Ufon Umanah

In our public imagination, Columbia has the dual identity of being both a traditionally entrenched Ivy League university and a liberal activist haven, and as a result it faces the perceived trappings of both. How can we reconcile these two seemingly opposed value systems? What is––or should be––Columbia's role in preserving the status quo? In spearheading radical change?

So, you want to run for office, but like most first-years, you have no idea where to start. Who could blame you? NSOP was only a week ago, and now you have to compete for hearts and minds you didn’t even know existed before Labor Day. It’s impractical at worst, mad at best.

Orgo Night: One could call it CUMB-troversial. (Okay, that was bad. Let's move on.) And yet, for 40 years, the Columbia University Marching Band has insisted on marching into Butler 209 and roasting everything and everyone in Columbia to the very vocal chagrin of many. It has been denounced in name by the Disorientation Guide, in which the activist groups on campus introduce interested first-years to various issues. Many students feel it was implicitly called out in a handout provided during Under1Roof, a mandatory NSOP program designed by the Office of Multicultural Affairs, which described a similar hypothetical event as "a semester comedy routine and campus 'tradition' [during which] a student organization consistently mocks issues surrounding race, gender, queerness, and other identities." It has been mocked online so many times that one could design a short promo around those insults, as the marching band did.

Tuesday evening, four political factions on campus came together for a debate to convince Columbia students to support their respective chosen candidate in the 2016 presidential election. Republicans awkwardly commented on police brutality, Democrats called for more coalitions in Syria, Libertarians resisted a planned green economy, and Socialists railed against the corporate machine. It was an all-encompassing debate touching on Palestine, North Dakota, and Iran, and yet, despite being held in the most-filmed lecture hall in the country, Columbia wasn't even mentioned.