How Barack Obama Became the Accidental Occidental President

[question everything]

OCTOBER 9, 2009

How Barack Obama Became the Accidental Occidental President
College Claims Him Even Though He Left Early; Commemorative Diaper Covers in the Bookstore

By TAMARA AUDI

LOS ANGELES -- When Thomas Stringer, a junior at Occidental College, moved into room A104 of the Haines Hall dormitory, he had no idea that President Barack Obama had slept there -- 30 years ago. "I thought there'd be a plaque or something," said Mr. Stringer, a 20-year-old biochemistry student from Seattle. Instead, Mr. Stringer learned about the room's former occupant from fellow students. Mr. Stringer and his roommates fashioned a historical marker of their own. A hand-drawn sign that says "Barack H. Obama VIP Lounge" now hangs from Christmas lights over an armchair.

Mr. Obama spent two years at Occidental, a small liberal-arts college tucked into a hilly Los Angeles neighborhood, before leaving to complete his undergraduate studies at Columbia University. His autobiography says he left for New York, in part, to be "in the heart of a true city, with black neighborhoods in close proximity." That has presented Occidental, or Oxy, as it's often called, with a problem: How to deal with its most famous student who matriculated but didn't graduate.

For now, the only official evidence of Mr. Obama's brief tenure is a small glass case displaying photos in a corner of the library. But there are no plaques or statues; there is no museum, scholarship or academic chair in his name. A timeline on the school's Web site lists 1979 not as the year Mr. Obama arrived as a freshman, but as the year a water-art installation known as "the fountain," and used in the film "Star Trek III," arrived on campus. "Literally, you could come to Occidental and not know the president was ever here," says Jonathan Veitch, Occidental's president. That is about to change. The school is considering a statue, an Obama-inspired reading room and lecture series, among other things.

(snip)

It is not unusual for Ivy League schools to graduate future presidents. (Harvard churned out eight -- including Mr. Obama, who graduated from its law school.) But a presidential connection can have immense impact on a small college, boosting prestige and attracting students and donors. Occidental officials are studying the examples of other small schools that have produced presidents. Five years after his death, President Ronald Reagan ('32) is still bringing cash, students and dignitaries to tiny Eureka College in Illinois. The school has a museum and scholarship program dedicated to the former president. Eureka's Ronald W. Reagan Peace Garden, christened in 2000, features a bust of Mr. Reagan and a piece of the Berlin Wall... Whittier College, a small school founded by Quakers in Orange County, Calif., has a fellowship program named for its presidential alumnus, Richard M. Nixon ('34). The school also has a collection of his papers and artifacts.

(snip)

Occidental has already figured out one way to cash in. It has launched a line of Obama-related T-shirts, keychains, mugs and hats called "BarOxy wear" and emblazoned with "Obama '83," the year he would have graduated had he graduated. A diaper cover with "Change We Need" printed on the back sells for $10.95... The school has had more than its share of screen credits. The campus served as the setting for the fictional California University in the television show "Beverly Hills 90210." Films featuring the Marx Brothers, Jimmy Stewart and Shirley Temple were shot on campus. More recently, Occidental appeared in "Clueless," starring Alicia Silverstone, and "Made of Honor," starring Patrick Dempsey.

(snip)

In his autobiography, Mr. Obama said he chose Occidental partly because he had met a girl from the Los Angeles area. Mr. Reagan also followed a girl to college. By his own account, Mr. Obama experienced a political awakening at Occidental. He joined the anti-apartheid movement and gave one of his first political speeches at a rally in front of the college president's office. Occidental is happy to oblige visitors who want to retrace his steps. Recently, a group of 100 tourists from the Ivory Coast arrived at the school in two tour buses asking for an Obama tour. Like any good tour, it ended at the gift shop -- in this case, the small campus bookstore that sells "BarOxy wear." "We used to get tourists coming for '90210,' " says Anne Wolf, the director of the campus bookstore. The school is planning to print a "Barack Walk" pamphlet to serve as a self-guided tour for visitors.

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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125504077432074491.html (subscription)

Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page A1




President Barack Obama in 1980 by the fountain on the quad of Occidental College in Los Angeles.

[saracat]

1. Very interesting.Facinating that he visited with his Prof who gave him the "B" and that the

guy wasn't that old.He must have been a young professor at the time! I wish more was known about the Columbia years though.

from the link:

"Columbia doesn't appear to be having the same struggle over how to remember Mr. Obama. A Columbia spokesman said the school doesn't sell any items advertising the president as a graduate, and didn't know of any plans for statues or plaques. Mr. Obama is Columbia's first graduate to become president, though Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt attended Columbia Law School but didn't complete their degrees. School officials say that while Columbia is proud to claim Mr. Obama as a graduate, the school has produced many political stars."

[Berry Cool]

2. It's interesting to see how Occidental is approaching this whole thing

although it's hardly unheard of for colleges to "claim" people who matriculated but never graduated as "alumni." The basic rule of any school is, if you ever attended class there and later go on to become rich and famous, you're an "alumnus"--whether you actually graduated or not.

It's definitely the way they handle it when well-known athletes sign with the pros before completing their degrees. Why not everyone else?

[question everything]

3. Same with instructors

I am sure U of Chicago is claiming him. And still hoping for the girls to be alumnae.