Valeria Escobar

As the first Questbridge Finalist to come from her high school, Alysha Acosta’s college application process was shrouded in uncertainty. The organization’s website, however, did make one thing certain—she would be provided with a “full four-year scholarship.”

Hailing from all 50 states and 74 foreign countries, the class of 2023 awaited its official introduction as students of Columbia College and the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Following an incident in which six Barnard Public Safety officers physically restrained Alexander McNab, CC ’19, demanding to see his Columbia ID, Public Safety policies across schools have been subject to increased scrutiny and criticism by the student body.

Avichai Assouline, a third year student in the Film M.F.A. Program at the School of the Arts, has died, School of Arts Dean of Faculty Carol Becker and Dean of Students and Alumni Affairs Laila Maher announced in an email to the student body on Monday morning.

Over 300 faculty, students, and alumni called on Columbia to end its $150,000 contract with U.S. Customs and Border Protection for emergency medical services at the border, condemning the partnership as a legitimization of CBP cruelty in a faculty-led petition sent to administrators last week.

The Second Circuit ruled Tuesday that President Donald Trump violated the first amendment by blocking people whose views he disagreed with from his Twitter account. The case, brought by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, could have broader implications for standards of free speech in a social-media driven public.

Book Culture, a beloved local chain and a reliable hub for Columbia students in need of textbooks, faces an imminent threat of closure unless it receives at least $500,000 in funding, owner Chris Doeblin announced in an open letter last week.

Columbia’s National Center for Disaster Preparedness received $150,000 from the U.S Customs and Border Patrol to devise medical protocol for assessing individuals in the process of crossing the southern border, according to center director Irwin Redlener. The contract agreement will continue through November 2020.

Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Lederer resigned from her appointment as part-time lecturer at Columbia Law School on Wednesday following official statements from the Black Student Organization and the Black Law Student Association demanding that Columbia hold her accountable for her role as prosecutor in the 1989 “Central Park Five” case, the convictions in which were later overturned in 2002.