“Nearly Everything in My Life is Attributable to Columbia”

Growing up in Waterbury, Connecticut, Erin Zyko Hussein’92CC ’95LAW knew what she wanted in a college: academic rigor and a strong medieval studies program.

“Columbia College had one of the best,” she said. “Columbia was also relatively close to home. I have a younger sister and brother and didn’t want to miss their childhood. I liked being able to pop home for a hockey game or battle of the drum kits.”

Columbia proved to be a turning point in her life. “Columbia exploded my view of the world and America and myself,” Erin said. “I left with a sense that I was capable—which I did not have going in—and I honestly believe that classes like Literature Humanities, Logic and Rhetoric, Contemporary Civilizations and Legal Methods rewired my brain. Some nights my thoughts would be racing so fast that I couldn’t fall asleep.”

Erin calls her experience “unbelievable, even now when I look back on it.”

“Columbia’s program included the Renaissance, and some of my fondest memories are of reading Dante and Cervantes with Professor James Mirollo in a very small class on the top floor of Hamilton,” she said. “Professor James Shapiro taught Shakespeare up through Hamlet, and Professor Edward Taylor started Shakespeare II with Hamlet. Studying that play with both titans of Shakespeare scholarship was an only-at-Columbia experience.”

Outside of academics, Erin immersed herself in campus life: the Inter-Greek Council, Columbia College Student Council, Undergraduate Dormitory Council, New Student Orientation Program, Senior Class Committee, and Barnard ballroom dancing. 

“My most memorable moment is October 8, 1988,” she said. “It was the day of the football game against Princeton. Columbia broke their 44-game losing streak which led to an all-night party on and around campus.” 

After graduation, Erin went on to Columbia Law School, followed by a nine-year stint with the law firm Shearman & Sterling, where she met her husband, Samir. When their daughter, Lila, was born, Erin’s career took a different route. She turned to writing, a lifelong dream, and has completed several short stories and a novel. 

She discovered the world of fundraising when she chaired a benefit for her daughter’s preschool. “I loved it—connecting with people in the various communities in which I was involved, helping them think through how to match their generosity with their passion to advance the mission of an organization,” she said.

She signed on to become the fundraising chair for her 25th Reunion, which led to a job with the Columbia College Fund and later as Associate Director of Alumni Relations and Events at GSAS.

“Nearly everything in my life is attributable to choosing Columbia College,” she said. “Most of my friends are from Columbia College or Law School. I’ve shared apartments with friends from Columbia, and I walk with one of them almost every Friday afternoon. I see someone from Columbia socially at least once a week. My literary agent graduated from Columbia. My boss, Dean Andrea Solomon’87CC, is a Columbian.” Lila will attend the College in Fall 2023.

Outside of Columbia, Erin is active in her lower Manhattan community, particularly in health and preservation. She is Vice President of the Central Village Co-Op/Condo Alliance and has run three times (unsuccessfully) for public office. 

Over the years, Erin has made regular annual fund gifts to the College and Law School and began giving at the John Jay level in honor of her 25th College Reunion. Her decision to make a legacy gift stemmed from her role as manager of the Alumnae Legacy Circle (ALC), a dynamic group of alumnae who rank among the College’s most generous supporters. 

“I absolutely loved the ALC, but with the current and future expenses of two teenagers (her younger child, Kadin, is 14), I didn’t feel that I could stretch to make a gift large enough to become a member,” she said. “When I learned that the ALC was inviting alumnae who made generous legacy gifts, I made a gift by will and am now thrilled to be a member of both the ALC and the 1754 Society.”

Erin’s gift is unrestricted. “Having worked in fundraising, I understand the value of unrestricted funds,” she explained. “I trust Columbia to put my gift to the best use possible when the time comes—and it may be something I can’t even imagine right now.”

“I have gained so much from Columbia,” she continued. “I owe it to those who supported Columbia so generously so that I could attend such an exceptional university. It gives me a thrill to give back.”