Sometime in Spring 1953:
I was ending my sophomore year at Downtown City College (now Baruch College). Since I was extensively involved in various school activities, I was often late to class. This was always excused by my professors, with the exception of my math instructor. As a matter of fact, on one particular day when I was late, he informed me that the next time I was late he would drop me from the class. I was concerned.
However, two days later, on leaving the Lexington Avenue subway, I looked at my watch, and, yes, I would be very close to being late again. At 5’7″ and about 120 pounds, I was as fast as the wind. I flew down the block, crashed through the revolving doors, and saw the elevator doors starting to close. I knew if I made the elevator I had a chance of being on time. I flew toward the elevator and ran head on into a huge person standing there. I must have blacked out for a few seconds. The next thing I knew this person was holding me up in midair by the shoulders at his eyeglasses level, asking, “Are you all right, son?” several times. I finally was able to gasp, “Yes, yes, I’m okay,” at which point, he gently lowered me to the ground. Well, that huge, kind man, I learned as we introduced ourselves, was none other than Bernard Baruch, who was at the college that morning making arrangements for the school’s being renamed in his honor.
What an embarrassing honor. I will never forget his gentle kindness to me.
Of course I was late again, but I had the best true excuse in the world: “I had a brief meeting with Bernard Baruch this morning right before class.”
Alumni: Please Share Your Priceless Memories
Stories like these are a priceless part of our college’s history. Yet, in almost every case, they are known only to a few people and stand a good chance of being lost forever—if not recorded and shared. So, if you have a Bernard Baruch anecdote (even if your tale lacks the “impact” of Seymour Passman’s run-in), please share it here or e-mail [email protected]
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