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Paxton went to Tisch in the '70s to study under Stella Adler, but remembers New York as an equally big draw. His father's stories inspired him.
"He brought me here at very early age," said the former star of "Big Love." "I remember going to Sardi's as a kid after Lincoln Center. We went backstage and met Anne Jefferys. He's growing up the same way," Paxton added, pointing to his son James, a current Tisch student himself. This weekend, the pair will look at dorms.
"I lived in the dorms the first year," Paxton said. "The second year I found a loft in Tribeca for $300. I could have bought the whole floor for $10,000. But I didn't have two nickels to rub together."
Paxton financed his education working in restaurants, mailrooms, and as a darkroom assistant at Parsons. He eventually received some merit-based aid. Producing a series of plays his first year lead to a scholarship - his second - which still didn't make Tisch cheap. "I have a student loan I paid off last year," he joked.
He advises young actors not to let cost deter an education, whether it's one earned in the classroom or in the city, saying, "To know who came before you is invaluable. And to live New York is invaluable."
Despite starting a minor controversy by tweeting "I think I'm leaving NBC just in time" after the "Today Show" staked out his apartment, Baldwin was more subdued at the event, offering only, "NBC has been very good to me." He was more interested in reiterating the night's goals. "We're here tonight to get money for kids to go to college. What do you care if that person is black, white, female, Asian? We have to spend more of our money on young people."
And in defending Tisch's right to the Village, Baldwin said, "One thing I've learned living in New York for years is that there's going to be development. The question is what kind of development. And as far as I'm concerned a development that improves a strong presence for New York University can never be a bad thing."
As for Pulitzer-winner Kushner, he attended Tisch to study with Carl Weber, who had worked with a personal hero, Bertolt Brecht. Kushner paid for tuition by working as a switchboard operator and expository writing instructor for dance students. He recommends that young artists find mentors. "I learned an enormous amount from Weber, Ron Van Lieu, Olympia Dukakis - there were really amazing teachers there," he said.
In addition to mentors, Kushner found useful community of like-minded talent, including actor Stephen Spinella, for whom Kushner wrote the role of Prior in "Angels in America."
Toward the evening's end, Kushner delivered the most entertaining Tisch speech. Listing all Mary Campbell's accomplishments in a breathless monologue, his awe evident, he then listed her failures. "Mary has been dean of the Tisch School of the Arts for 20 years and in those 20 years the following things have not happened. Climate change has not been reversed; in fact it's worsened. The profoundly menacing gap between the rich and poor has not narrowed; in fact it's widened. Cures have not been found for AIDS, cancer, Alzheimer's, conservative political thinking, or religious fundamentalism. A second Bush became president. We've lost habeas corpus and corporations became people. Laws that guarantee guns to lunatics have proliferated. The best president this country has had since FDR is neck to neck in the polls with a zillionaire rageaholic. So, Mary, please tell us what's up with that? I'm pointing this out because George retired from Cooper Union last year and I'm worried you're thinking about following his lead. I want to say mazel tov, Mary, on 20 years and a job magnificently well done, but we still need you and the world needs you. So get back to work." The applause was emphatic. Tisch's future seemed safe.
"I need to get some of that ginkgo biloba, Wolfgang Amadeus transfusion shit Kushner's on," Baldwin said.
