Robert McCaughey is the Ann Whitney Olin Professor of History, Barnard College, and author of Stand, Columbia: A History of Columbia University

Of all America's major universities, Columbia has been the most cavalier about its own history. That this has generally spared us on ceremonial occasions from filiopietistic paeans to our forefathers is a blessing not to be minimized. One might even credit the absence of self-congratulatory chronicles to our institutional diffidence, were that virtue otherwise observed on Morningside Heights. Some see the neglect of our own past as one with our urban condition, where to "get over it" is the first order of the day and "creative destruction" an accepted means of doing so. And there is something to be said for the notion that if some aspect of Columbia's history is worth reexamining, let it be undertaken by non-Columbians, whose disinterestedness is more certifiable. The effect of this last rationalization has been that much of the best work on Columbia's history has been done by outsiders.

And yet the very centrality of Columbia's history to the history of New York City and American urban life generally, to the history of higher education and American intellectual life writ large, to the history of discrimination and access, privilege and inclusiveness, makes it incumbent upon Columbians to take up the challenge of reexamining our institutional history. Accordingly, I am cheered by the alacrity and enthusiasm with which three of the University's most distinguished American historians have joined me in this series of talks sponsored by Columbia 250 and hosted by the provost of the University. Likewise our respondents, each of whom brings a distinctive view to the Columbia matters at hand. And to members of the audience, who are urged to bring their perspectives to bear. If it is true that Columbia's history is too important to be left to Columbia historians, it is no less true that Columbia historians—indeed, all Columbians—need to join in an ongoing effort of critically engaging our past. To do so can only inform our thinking, as Columbians and Americans, about our future.

March 8, 2004