George Rupp papers, 1987-1995

Summary Information

Description

Summary

The collection consists of correspondence, both personal and professional, speeches and calendar logs of University President George Rupp.

Using the Collection

Restrictions on Access

You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.

Material is unprocessed. Please contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.

All administrative records of the University are restricted for 25 years from the date of creation.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

Reproductions may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.

About the Finding Aid / Processing Information

Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Processing Information

Collection-level record describing unprocessed material made public in summer 2018 as part of the Hidden Collections initiative.

Biographical / Historical

The Princeton, Yale and Harvard educated author and Presbyterian minister, George Rupp, had previously presided over Rice University and served as dean of the Harvard Divinity School before accepting the presidency at Columbia.

As president, Rupp took on the task of making the University's administration more efficient and transparent. To do this, he made several non-faculty administrative appointments, including three Vice Presidents from the public sector. In addition, since the majority of the staff within his administration remained in place throughout his tenure, he managed to create a sense of continuity within the University.

During Rupp's presidency enrollment was expanded by twenty-five percent from 3,200 in 1993 to 4,000 in 2002. Columbia College became increasingly selective in admissions and more socially diverse than any other highly selective private college. This was helped, in part, by the founding of the Kluge Presidential Scholars Program, for students from underrepresented communities which was established at Columbia shortly after Rupp took office. During his nine-year tenure, he focused on enhancing undergraduate education, on strengthening the relationship of the campus to surrounding communities and New York City as a whole, and on increasing the university's international orientation. At the same time, he completed both a financial restructuring of the university and a $2.84 billion fundraising campaign that achieved eight successive records in dollars raised.

Following his resignation in 2002, Rupp became the president and chief executive officer and president of the International Rescue Committee (IRC).

Subject Headings

The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.

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Name
Columbia University -- : Presidents	CLIO Catalog	ArchiveGRID
Columbia University -- Presidents	CLIO Catalog	ArchiveGRID
Rupp, George	CLIO Catalog	ArchiveGRID