1968

I vividly recall that, in spite of what one would assume to be the former provost’s opposition to the actions of the demonstrators, Jacques Barzun was unfailingly courteous to those of his students who declared their support — some with unbridled enthusiasm, others with many caveats — for the occupation. Amid this Sturm und Drang he offered an alternative model of serenity and rationality, behaving as someone who, unlike many of his colleagues, had never lost his bearings.
— William R. Keylor, Simple and Direct, Columbia, Fall 2007