32 Years Later
Rethinking the private, public, and universal
Dear Reader,
I suggest to the reader as a possible approach, understanding these essays as ones which, for the most part, discuss extremely personal issues on the micro level; nevertheless, when fused with language or art, they transcend the private and address a much larger audience. At that point, they begin to explore emotions and ideas that seem both universal and, ironically, touchingly private.
Benjamin Nagin, my father, published this short editor’s note on April 23, 1993, in Volume 26 of Skidmore College’s student academic opinion publication, Politeia. At the time, he was in his last semester of college, preparing to go to law school. He envisioned his final edition as editor of Politeia to be about how private intellectual fascinations can have compelling universal themes.
I find this observation representative of the underlying connection between the pieces in this issue. Flipping through this edition, however, the reader might notice the opposite of my father’s observation. Our writers are decisively interested in commenting on community concerns or engaging directly with other campus publications via the Op-Ed.
Drawing on her experience as a gun sense activist, incoming Deputy Editor Xinyan Chen unpacks The Columbia Daily Spectator’s response to the tragic shooting at Brown University, refuting the argument that the Columbia administration’s response is demonstrative of institutional elitism.
From an even more local perspective, guest contributor Chloe Hoyle BC ‘26 shares a personal commentary on our community’s lack of reaction to the devastating fire last December at the Ascension Roman Catholic Church. She then goes on to diagnose this as indicative of Columbia students’ disinterest in our neighbors’ lives. Her proposed solution? To make local concerns the core of Columbia’s intellectual doctrine.
And, as he so often does, Sundial Managing Editor Nick Baum explores the history of our surrounding locale—this time, at Old Broadway Synagogue in Harlem, a storied congregation that has been a home to Jews of the area for 114 years. The title of Baum’s piece reflects the congregation’s resilience as one of the last standing in Harlem: “The Little Synagogue That Could.”
Since I can remember, Volume 26 has been sitting on my family’s coffee table. Ironically, I only managed to actually pick up Politeia and read through its contents as I was preparing for my last semester as Editor-in-Chief of Sundial over the winter break. Yes, perhaps I should have been a “better son” and read through the journal sooner. But, as these things go, I read Politeia at the perfect time. 32 years later, as I was scrambling to understand the direction of this January-February Sundial, my father’s note was revelatory.
Thus, I suggest to the reader as a possible approach, understanding these essays as ones that, for the most part, discuss extremely omnipresent issues on the macro level; nevertheless, when fused with history or faith, they transcend the public and address a more intimate audience. At that point, they begin to explore emotions and ideas that seem both private and, ironically, touchingly universal.
For the staff,
Alex Nagin
Editor-in-Chief
Mr. Nagin is a senior in the Dual BA program with Trinity College Dublin, studying political science and Russian. He is the editor-in-chief of Sundial.