Barack Obama’s alma maters — from his high school to his graduate school — are planning to claim a small piece of the president-elect at gatherings throughout the inaugural week.
Few families are more suited for the events than that of Hawaiians Richard Turbin and Rai Saint Chu, who will arrive in D.C. on Thursday for an early start on the festivities. They have family connections to most all of Obama’s schools.
“Our kids went to Punahou School, our son went to Occidental College and is now the track coach there, our daughter went to Columbia University and my husband went to Harvard Law School,” Saint Chu said. “How could we not support [Obama]?”
Obama graduated high school from Honolulu’s Punahou, attended two years of his undergraduate at Los Angeles liberal arts school Occidental, received his bachelor’s degree from Columbia, and attended law school at Harvard.
Punahou alum Steve Case, founder of America Online, will host a brunch for about 250 people, Saint Chu said, many of whom will be making the trek from Hawaii.
“It’s a very forward-thinking school,” she added, explaining she’s proud the president-elect learned early on to think broadly and enjoy diversity.
Occidental’s gathering on January 19 will host about 250 people, including alum and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Steve Coll.
“The reaction has been terrific,” said Jim Jacobs, Occidental’s director of alumni relations, saying their 250 reservations are “more than we ever anticipated” for the free celebration.
Alum Carl Ballton will fly in from California for the festivities on Saturday, filled with memories of his Civil Rights-era college years.
“To see what’s occurred 40 years later, well, I want to be a part of it,” Ballton said.
More than 1,000 Harvard Law School grads have paid $100 per ticket to attend a Sunday, Jan. 18 brunch at the historic Willard Intercontinental Hotel, once a common place to spot President Abraham Lincoln. It will be hosted by the school’s dean and recently-tapped U.S. Solicitor General, Elena Kagan.
“There’s no indication we’ll be so lucky” to see the incoming president, said Donna Chiozzi, the law school’s director of alumni relations. “But it’s a good chance to celebrate a good thing for Harvard Law School.”
Only Columbia is not hosting a big party for their presidential graduate, but the University of Chicago, where Obama spent 12 years as a law school lecturer, will take advantage.
Chicago’s $100 per ticket “From Hyde Park to the White House” will feature Austan Goolsbee, former professor and now one of Obama’s chief economists, and alum and New York Times columnist David Brooks.
