Note on the Photo Gallery: From a more personal perspective, anyone who has attended NYU Shanghai even for a semester knows how much NYU’s third portal school looks forward to visits from President Sexton. From his stories about his high school teacher Charlie and wife Lisa to selfies with him while receiving his famous hugs, Sexton receives a warm welcome every time he steps into the Shanghai campus. Following the end of his presidency, several NYU Shanghai students want him to teach more at this campus, perhaps more than one course a semester. The following is a photo dedication to President John Sexton from his students and faculty at NYU Shanghai. As the end of his presidency approaches, OCA would like, on behalf of NYU Shanghai and all those who are a part of this institute, to thank President Sexton for all that he has done for NYU and NYU Shanghai. If any other students would like their photos with John Sexton to be featured in this gallery, send them to [email protected]. On Thursday, October 8th 2015, NYU hosted “A Celebration of John Sexton” at the NYU School of Law. The event brought together people from different parts of NYU President John Sexton’s life to celebrate as his presidency comes to an end. The event began with the screening of a video dedicated to Sexton from his three granddaughters, which involved several of his colleagues and students sharing their experiences with Sexton. Perfectly combining humor with reflections about Sexton’s years at NYU, the video managed to capture what makes Sexton unique - from his overwhelming enthusiasm in class and the values he puts forward on family and friends first, to his intergalactic vision for NYU and it’s future (including a possible NYU campus on Mars now that they’ve found water there!). The video concluded with Sexton’s three granddaughters claiming that while a Sexton is leaving, NYU might soon gain three more as each asked for admission from one of NYU’s three portal campuses. The video was followed by several speakers, some live and some via video, including Board of Trustee members William Berkley and Martin Lipton, several NYU faculty members, CAS/Law student Max Raskin, members of the NYU Administration, and Robert Berdahl, former President of the Association of American Universities. The 2015-2016 casts of the NYU Abu Dhabi and NYU Shanghai Reality Show also performed via video to show their campuses’ appreciation to Sexton, while the cast of the New York Reality Show performed live. Following the program and the dinner afterwards, NYU surprised Sexton by bringing together former cast members of the three reality shows to perform “Learn to Love and Live” one final time as the night came to an end. “The theme of the event was ‘play another octave’ of the piano which is the guiding principle of John Sexton’s life and what he imparts to all of his students”, said Lynne Brown, Senior Vice President for University Relations and Public Affairs. “The aim was to bring into focus the generations of students -- from his days coaching high school girls debating teams in Brooklyn over 50 years ago right up to the present with his current students in New York, Shanghai and Abu Dhabi -- whose lives John has touched. Through film, song and words we wanted to celebrate John for the teacher, humanist and leader that he is.” Sexton has achieved a lot for NYU since assuming presidency, including the acquirement of NYU Tandon School of Engineering (formerly NYU Poly) which restored engineering at NYU for the first time in 40 years, the establishments of the Abu Dhabi and Shanghai campuses, the Global Network study abroad sites and extensive expansion of the Washington Square campus, increase in freshmen admission applications from 29,000 to over 60,000 every year, doubling of the number of American students studying abroad, and the increase of financial aid budget due to the average grant size increasing from about 34% of tuition to about 55% of tuition. For NYU Shanghai junior Li Siyao, who is currently studying abroad in New York, attending the event made him realize the responsibility that comes with being part of the inaugural class of NYU Shanghai, as well as the importance of his home school in global education: “Many speakers mentioned that they really admire President Sexton’s boldness in creating the Global Network. In NYU Shanghai, the phrase “GNU” is heard several times in various occasions, but hearing it in New York did remind me how much hope and effort President Sexton and the staff at NYU has put into our school. Sometimes I forget how special our school is, but in fact, there is a historical mission for all students at NYU Shanghai. We are, just as President Sexton constantly reminds us, the trailblazers of global education. It is our duty to live up to the hopes of President Sexton by the time we graduate and to prove NYU Shanghai a successful experiment.” Being the president of a world class universities that has campuses in over five continents is no easy job. The responsibilities and duties come in a package with resistance, politics, and difficult decisions - as Robert Berdahl pointed out in his speech, one begins to notice several changes after a term of presidency comes to an end, including the fact that “people will still wave at you on the streets, only this time with all their fingers.” But regardless of individual perceptions, as a community we must acknowledge the phenomenal job Sexton has done as President. Under his presidency, NYU has raised universities standards all over the world, whether it is in terms of international campuses providing study away opportunities, the number of international students in an American university, or the ranking of individual colleges within NYU. Whether Sexton’s successfully achieved his goal of transforming NYU into one of the world’s best can be left up to individual interpretation, but we must all admit that progress is in the right direction.Perhaps what makes Sexton different from most university presidents is that even as a President, he is still a teacher. Claiming that he was born to be in the classroom, John Sexton has been heard saying “When I teach and meet a class for the first time, you realize that there are people there that have exceptional abilities or have the potential to do exceptional things and you never know who those people are. My job is to provide the best information I can.” In 2009, Sexton was placed on #2 in Time magazine’s “The 10 Best College Presidents”, highlighting his continued dedication to teaching despite the title of President. And since last year, Sexton has been flying back and forth between NYU’s three portal campuses in New York, Abu Dhabi, and Shanghai every week to teach his famous course “The Relationship Between Government and Religion.”Whether you call him President or Professor Sexton, J Sexy, or just JSex, you must acknowledge the dedication Sexton has for NYU, and the effort being put in by Sexton and his administration to make this university reach its full potential. Incoming President Andrew Hamilton sure has big shoes to fill. This article was written by Lathika Chandra Mouli. Send an email to[email protected] to get in touch. Photo Credit: ©NYU Photo Bureau: Hollenshead/Slezak