ABSTRACT
The for-profit subsidiaries differ from their parent institutions to varying degrees. They “have a different tone from the rest of the university.” Speaking of Fathom, the Washington Post Magazine described the differences, only partly attributable to the fact that “Fathom’s offices are half a city downtown from Columbia’s main campus—80 blocks south of the marble edifices and manicured quads of Morningside Heights” (Shea, 2001, September 16).
The company occupies an upper floor in a building that squats in the shadow of the Empire State Building, just around the corner from Korea-town. Its offices lack the usual interior-decorating scheme of an old, exclusive college: no wood paneling, no Colonial chairs, no oil paintings of gray-haired eminent men from eras past staring into the middle distance.
No, Fathom is conspicuously modern. The reception area comes straight from the Silicon Alley playbook: a crisp green floor, touches of unfinished metal here and there, daunting sculptural chairs that cordially invite you to remain standing. A spiral staircase leads down into a loft-y looking space, in which three dozen young people type and surf away in a cubicleless nirvana, (p. W25)
Duke CE’s physical space is quite similar to Fathom’s. Immediately after creating the company, Sheppard moved it from the Fuqua School to a century old, red brick, tobacco warehouse in downtown Durham, far from the idyllic forest and secluded setting of the University. Initially, Duke CE occupied the building’s existing functional space, with workspace in several large rooms over three floors. These undivided rooms held everyone in the company, from Sheppard to the secretaries, who all sat at identical desks with 80the same arrangements. Rather than a corner office, Sheppard merely occupied a corner of this large room. This egalitarian workspace was consistent with the goals of both Sheppard and Wallace, who desired to create an atmosphere where all employees were valued equally.