Mr Christian Krienke, Germany
Participant from the first ever Columbia Summer Program, Leiden, 1963
"What an experience! On the way to studying law in Philadelphia/USA I had received a one month scholarship for above program at "Gravensteen". Being all the way European-wise influenced it was for the first time that I dived into the atmosphere of a leading US law school. It started with the participants representing enthusiasm, drive, competitiveness, willingness to work extremely hard but as well exciting talents and the key competence of getting fun out of every day. It was a thrill to read the enormous amount of cases day by day and in addition visiting for instance the Lucky Star/Blue Note in Amsterdam or a small Noordwijk seaside pub with a group of 1-20 co-ed participants late night.
The students represented outstanding characters being led by a team of professors who were just world class capacities such as Professor Willis Reese, Professor Milton Handler, Professor Walter Gellhorn, Professor Maurice Rosenberg, Professor Richard Pugh and especially the then very young Professor Hans Smit who all joined the participants at extra-curricular activities such as visiting the Peace Palace or the Frans Hals museum (combined with a "coffee/cognac-courtyard-concert" just for our group).
For me the greatest challenge in class was the most admirable professor Willis Reese who involved his student group with utmost dedication, legal know-how and an unbelievable ability to communicate so deeply into the daily legal work that I still today recall details of the course (until today I am staing in close contact to the family of the late professor Reese). Aside Leiden, The Hague, Wassenaar, Amsterdam and Noordwijk/Sea will be for me forever among the favourite places in the world due to the undivided hospitality the Dutch group within the 1963 team-participants exercised.
In addition I could transmit my love to the program to my eldest son Nikolaus Krienke who participated in the 1995 program, attended the working group of Professor Hans Smit and came back from Amsterdam with overwhelming positive impressions."
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