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“The President
has long talked about his respect for Columbia University and
his desire to continue working with them," the White House
statement said in response to a Reuters query. "However, at this
point no decisions have been finalized about his post-Presidency
plans.”
Obama graduated from the New York school in 1983. Columbia was
also among the contenders for Obama's presidential library,
which will be built in his hometown of Chicago.
The Columbia Daily Spectator student newspaper quoted Columbia
President Lee Bollinger as telling a school convocation: "We
look forward to welcoming back our most famous alumnus, Barack
Obama, in 2017."
The comments stirred speculation on social media about Obama's
career plans after he leaves the White House in January 2017.
But the university, in a statement issued later on Monday, said
Bollinger's comment "only reiterated the May 12 statement by the
Barack Obama Foundation that it 'intends to maintain a presence
at Columbia University for the purpose of exploring and
developing opportunities for a long term association' and
reflected no further developments concerning President Obama’s
plans."
(Reporting by Peter Cooney; Editing by Lisa Lambert)
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