Newly-launched POTUS Project off to slow start

Roughly two weeks after the launch of the POTUS Project, the initiative is still very much in its beginning stages.

The POTUS Project, the Columbia College Senior Class Council’s self-declared “grassroots movement” to bring President Barack Obama, CC ’83, to speak at Commencement in May, is off to a slow start, CCSC senior class president Sean Udell said.

The project, which CCSC hopes will persuade Obama to accept official invitations to campus sent by University President Lee Bollinger and Udell in early October, includes getting students to write letters to Obama and convincing groups to host events in his honor.

Last Sunday, roughly 20 students attended the first POTUS Project meeting, which was open to any student who wanted to participate, Udell said. At the meeting, students were divided into teams to oversee individual, student group, and media outreach for the project.

“People were really excited about doing the work that needed to be done,” Udell said.

He added that the group does not plan to do many overt activities until they get the word out more about the project, which he hopes to do over the next month.

So far, Udell said they “haven’t gotten as many letters as we would like.” He attributed the slow start partly to the project being launched during midterms.

Over the next few weeks, organizers plan to host small events, such as study breaks that include writing letters to the president.

The main goal now is to get more students and groups involved, he said.

In a recent interview, Bollinger said he supported the council’s efforts, adding that he has been trying to get Obama to speak at Commencement for two years.

“I think this is great that there is kind of a student grassroots upflowing of interest in this,” Bollinger said. “I have been trying to get him to campus since I met him in the basement of Lerner during the campaign and he promised me that he would come. He said, quote, ‘I’ll tell you this—if I’m elected, I will come and speak as president.’ And I said, ‘Thank you very much, Mr. President.’”

Although Bollinger said he believes the students’ efforts will be effective, he added, “I’m not confident that this will be the year. ... We all realize that the decision about where the president speaks on commencements in May is vastly complicated, and usually you don’t know until very close to the end whether it’s going to happen.”

amber.tunnell@columbiaspectator.com