By Jennifer Glickel
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS — The naves of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine were filled for a few moments with the words of legendary filmmaker Spike Lee as he spoke at Columbia University's Teachers College graduation ceremony on Monday evening.
After receiving the school’s Medal for Distinguished Service to Education, Lee told the graduates that he came from a line of educators, including his grandmother and father, and that he himself is now an educator — a film professor at his alma mater, NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.
“I kick my Nikes up my students’ butts,” Lee said. “I’m not an easy teacher.”
Lee stressed the importance of the hard work the Teachers College grads have ahead of them, saying, “We’re living in a time where kids don’t want to read. Believe me, I have two kids.”
Lee ended his speech with a firm and simple statement: “Education is good.”
Graduates had mostly positive reactions to Lee’s speech, but everyone agreed the talk was too brief.
“To be honest with you, it was so quick that I didn’t absorb much of it,” said graduate Marty Wisbey, 36. “It didn’t leave much of an impression on me.”
Graduate Scott Montanaro, 24, took a bit more away from Lee’s speech.
“What struck me about it is that he was a product of excellent education,” Montanaro said. “While the speech was brief, that really struck a chord with me because I feel that the reason I wanted to become a teacher is because of the great education I was lucky enough to receive over the years.”
Some graduates, like Anna Belobrovy, 31, appreciated the way Lee closed his speech.
“He was really direct and it spoke to my heart,” Belobrovy said.
“He really underlined the importance of education in a single phrase — the last one.”
