NYU in France Celebrates its 40th Birthday in Style!

by Barb on May 3, 2009

This past Wednesday (April 29), NYU in France celebrated its 40th anniversary, as well as its founder’s (Tom Bishop) 80th birthday. Going all out for the event, the school canceled afternoon classes to finish putting up the tents and preparing the caterers for the many guests invited! Rumor has it that President Sarkozy was invited to the event, but he graciously declined the invitation.

When 5PM rolled on by, the courtyard filled itself up with alumni, students, professors, and other influential figures, such as NYU president John Sexton and Liberal Studies dean Fred Schwarzbach. The invitation had originally read, “hors d’oeuvres to be served,” but I found not only such, but also an actual meal. To clarify, there were indeed fabulous hors d’oeuvres, ranging from cups of smoked salmon and cheese to skewered fruit to miniature sandwiches, as well as a chef freshly preparing Asian dishes (i.e. noodles) in his woks. The well anticipated rain did arrive, but thank goodness for the tents that covered most of the premises.

Even though the cocktail stopped at about 7PM, buses were lined up to take guests to the operatic premiere of Eugène Ionesco’s La Cantatrice Chauve at Théâtre-Athénée Louis-Jouvet. Given that I had no idea what the opera was about, I was quite amused and confused when the play began. Despite my confusion, there were several points in the opera, which left me thoroughly entertained.