‘Never heard of him’: Notable Columbia prof says he isn’t sure Obama attended Columbia University

campusreform.org ^ | June 14, 2013 | Oliver Darcy

[ransomnote]

In a recent interview, a well-known professor who taught at Columbia University for 46 years questioned whether or not President Obama actually attended the Ivy League school.

Prominent Columbia professor Henry Graff says he isn't sure President Obama ever attended the Ivy League school.

“I taught every significant politician that ever studied at Columbia,” said Columbia Emeritus Professor of History Henry Graff, in an interview last week with Wayne Root, a contributor at The Blaze. “Between American History and Diplomatic History, one way or another, they all had to come through my classes.”

“Not Obama,” he continued. “I never had a student with that name in any of my classes. I never met him, never saw him, never heard of him.”

Graff alleged that “none of the other Columbia professors knew him either” and said he is “very upset” to hear Obama referred to as a graduate of Columbia University.

“I am angry when I hear Obama called ‘the first President of the United States from Columbia University,’” he said. “I don’t consider him a Columbia student. I have no idea what he did on the Columbia campus. No one knows him.”

Graff is the recipient of the Kaul Foundation Award of Excellence in the field of education, an honor that is tied to a prize of $100,000. He is the author of multiple books and is known for teaching the first course on the history of the Presidency.

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[Chewbarkah]

Note that the Columbia College article refers to Obama as an alumnus. It never states that Obama is a graduate of Columbia College. Your comments about taking a College course or two while a General Studies student fit that to a tee.

The implication is that the writer(s) knew full well that Obama did not graduate from Columbia College, and chose their words precisely to avoid saying it.

[wildbill]

I have to admit that I didn’t check the wording in our alumni magazine, Columbia College Today when they ran the article on Obama.

I was surprised to see it because I had already seen all the questions about his Columbia provenance but just assumed it was verified just by the fact of the article which claimed him as a Columbia student.

[Chewbarkah]

Columbia College Today might have written the piece, as you suggested earlier, simply to claim a presidential connection.

But being of a narrow eye, I suspect that Obama’s narrative managers midwifed the story so other media players could plausibly “misinterpret” alumnus to mean graduate, thus anchoring false conventional wisdom without the risk of being caught lying. It is a shame that the world has come to this. [The Democrats used the work of Jonathan Gruber to give the ACA theoretical legitimacy in a very similar game of round-the-rosie].