June 10, 2018

Jam & Reunion 2018 Recap

The JAM was jumpin'! Reunion 2018 will be remembered for many things, but the JAM sits at number one.  

At one point the JAM was just a late summer get together for Black alumni from the foundational classes. JAM 2018 took the event to the next level, bringing broader diversity to Columbia's Reunion Weekend and encouraging the BAC faithful to keep this tradition alive for for generations to come. 

Moreover, the Saturday afternoon panel discussion, Fifty Years After '68: Black Alumni Tell Their Stories, was a unique glimpse at the history of being black at Columbia. 

Congratulations to the alums honored at JAM 2018 for contributions to the Black and Latino family:

Rachelle Viki Browne, Barnard College

The Honorable Walter Rivera, Columbia College

Steven Noah Sims, Columbia College 

And special congratulations to Brother Zachary S. Husser CC, who was honored for the many ways he has worked to keep us all together and welcome new alums to the family each year. 

Thank you to the alumni presenters: Efraim Nieves, Ellen Holder Honeywell, and Eric Holder. We won't pretend that having our brother Eric with us was not a special treat! And as we have come to expect, we were thrilled to again see New York's only Black Governor at the Jam - Governor David Patterson 'CC 

There are so many people to thank for making Jam 2018 a success. This was truly a community effort: 

Jonathan D. Schiller, '69CC '73Law, outgoing Chair of Columbia University's Board of Trustees; Eric Shea, Director of Columbia College Alumni Association; The Core Committee for Jam 2018 - Zach Husser, Bruce King, Kevin Matthews, Frances Sadler and Wayne Turner; Avis E. Hinkson, Dean of Barnard College; James "Plunky" Branch and his band Oneness; Paul Cronin, CU Journalism alumnus, filmmaker and author of A Time to Stir: Columbia '68; Justin Ifill of Ifill Events LLC, the panelists on Saturday, the officiants at the Sunday Worship and Memorial Service on Barnard's Campus. 

By the way, there is talk of JAM 2020, perhaps in D.C. Let's keep the conversation going. 

Jam_Collage1.jpg

See more photos on the BAC Facebook page. Thank you to all of you who submitted images. Special thanks to Darryl T. Downing 'CC for once again documenting our time together. 

BAC Facebook JAM 18 Images.

 

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  • Steven sims
    commented 2018-06-11 08:03:13 -0400
    I can’t begin to express my full appreciation and gratitude for this weekend. The gathering of the Clan is something I look forward to and am already anticipating 2020. The honor was great, and the fact that my protégé Eric Holder presented my award made it memorable,, but even more profound is the fact that God allowed me to see my family at least one more time before I go home. The mention of me and sheep in the same sentence by Garrett Johnson was unnecessary but everything else was great. I love you all.

    Noah