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Our committees conduct research, make contacts with administrators and alumni, and advise the board of directors regarding specific projects and concerns of the Foundation. Committees are also a great opportunity for alumni who don't have time to serve as an officer or director of the Foundation to get involved in specific issues in which they are interested.
We currently have four committees: The Fundraising Committee, The Publications Committee, The Halls Fund Committee and The University Relations Committee. Each committee includes one member of the board of directors as well as other interested alumni and undergraduate Philos. The board can also create other committees. If you are a Philo interested in a particular issue that you feel warrants forming a committee, feel free to e-mail Perry Metzger to volunteer.
The Fundraising Committee exists, as the name suggests, to raise funds. The Foundation would like to raise funds to help the Philolexian Society raise the level of discourse at Columbia and in New York. For a more formal description of how the Foundation intends to use any funds raised, see our Statement of Purpose [ html | pdf (148k) ].
The Fundraising Committee is governed by its committee charter [ html | pdf (48k) ].
The current members of the Fundraising Committee are:
James Wetterau (CC 1991), Committee Secretary
Rachel Kahn-Troster (BC 2001), Board Liaison
Thomas Vinciguerra (CC 1985)
Matthew Abrams (CC 2004)
If you are interested in serving on the Fundraising Committee, please contact Mr. Wetterau.
Literature has always been a central focus of the Philolexian Society, even in its pre-1802 incarnation as the King's College Literary Society. Today, Philos continue to honor this tradition through its weekly literary exercise and its literary magazine, Surgam. The Foundation's Publications Committee exists to strengthen and expand this tradition by providing additional funds to Surgam, maintaining this website, and seeking further publishing opportunities for the literary output of the Society.
The Publications Committee is governed by its committee charter [ html | pdf (48k) ].
The current members of the Fundraising Committee are:
Gedalia Pasternak (Cooper Union 1998), Committee Secretary
Celeste Cleary (CC 1991), Board Liaison
Ali Lemer (CC 1994)
Maria King (BC 2001)
Adam Fields (CC 1996)
If you are interested in serving on the Publications Committee, please contact Mr. Pasternak.
Ever since 1821, when the Columbia Trustees formally resolved to erect a building to house Philo — only to renege on their promise — the society has struggled to find space to house its extensive library, conduct meetings, and organize the various activities of the club. On the Morningside Heights campus alone, Philo has had offices in Low Memorial Library, Earl Hall, and John Jay, and has met in the basement of Hamilton, the crypt of St. Paul's Chapel, the abandoned libraries of Casa Italiana and Maison Francaise, and various student lounges and classrooms. In all cases, Philo was ultimately displaced by administrative encroachment. Philo's most recent office, in room 307 of Ferris Booth Hall, was lost in 1996 after the old student center was razed to make room for Alfred Lerner Hall (primarily an administrative building). Philo, like most Columbia student groups, has lacked adequate office space since then.
Philo alumni have long mused about restoring the society to its former landed glory. "If only we had halls..." has been a common lament of Philolexians since the group was refounded in 1985. Comparisons have often been made to similar societies at other institutions, such as the University of Pennsylvania, whose Philomatheans occupy the top floor of College Hall, and Princeton, whose Whig-Cliosophic Society has its own spacious house.
The Halls Fund Committee (HFC) was established to explore options and opportunities for finally providing the Society with halls of its own, safe from confiscation by the Columbia bureaucracy. Initially, the HFC will concentrate on fund-raising, especially outside the core of Philolexian alumni, by exploring donor naming programs and other ways to foster outside interest in Philolexian Halls. It will also be within the HFC's purview to research the real estate market in and around Manhattan for possible opportunities to purchase or rent halls with any money contributed to the Halls Fund.
The HFC is governed by its committee charter [ html | pdf (48k) ].
The current members of the HFC are:
Kenneth Ehrenberg (CC 1993), Committee Secretary
Adam Fields (CC 1996), Board Liaison
Jonathan Treitel (CC 2005)
Stephanie Feldman (BC 2005)
Krischelle Qua (BC 2005)
If you are interested in serving on the Halls Fund Committee, please contact Mr. Ken.
The University Relations Committee
The University Relations Committee (URC) exists to foster friendly ties between the Foundation and the university and to lobby the Columbia administration regarding issues of importance to Philolexians and Columbia students generally.
The URC is governed by its committee charter [ html | pdf (48k) ].
The current members of the URC are:
Thomas Vinciguerra (CC 1985), Committee Secretary
David Damast (CC 1999), Board Liaison
Dhruv Bansal (CC 2005)
Robin Woods (BC 2005)
If you are interesting in volunteering for the URC, please contact the Avatar.