Art's Diamonds

The Varsity Show has lampooned life at Columbia since 1894, but it was no joke when this year’s organizers presented Art Garfunkel ’62CC, ’65GSAS with the third annual I.A.L. Diamond Award for Achievement in the Arts. The prize is named for Isidore A. L. Diamond ’41CC, who wrote four Varsity Shows and went on to write screenplays for Some Like It Hot and The Apartment. It wasn’t the first Diamond award won by Garfunkel, who studied art history here before attaining fame in the 1960s with his smooth countertenor. In 2003, his and Paul Simon’s album Simon and Garfunkel’s Greatest Hits received the Diamond award from the Recording Industry Association of America, a distinction for records that sell ten million copies. “Art has been awarded two very prestigious titles, similarly named but different in origin and meaning,” says Grace Parra ’06CC, producer of the Varsity Show. In his speech at the April 29 reception, Garfunkel recalled “many sweet memories” from his days at Columbia, such as long conversations about books with classmates over dinner. “I thought that was fabulous,” he said.