After students have spent a year getting to know classmates behind both screens and masks, Columbia’s mask guidelines have begun to loosen in accordance with updated Centers for Disease Control and Prevention protocol—students can now go maskless while outdoors, but are still mandated to wear masks and practice social distancing indoors.

Jeh Johnson, Law ’82; Adam Pritzker, CC ’07; and Sheena Wright, CC ’90, Law ’94, have been elected to Columbia’s board of trustees, the University announced on Tuesday.

University Professor and Dr. Mathilde Krim-amfAR Chair of Global Health Wafaa El-Sadr has been appointed the next director of Columbia World Projects, University President Lee Bollinger announced in an email to the student body Thursday afternoon.

Just as first-years and sophomores were preparing to move to campus last summer, Columbia abruptly announced the cancellation of all semester-long housing contracts. Students and their families were forced to cancel plane tickets and hotel reservations and reconsider their plans for the semester ahead.

When mainstream media outlets first declared President-elect Joe Biden’s victory over his incumbent opponent Donald Trump early last week, community members and University affiliates flooded the streets of Morningside Heights to celebrate his victory.  In the days following, students at Columbia have begun to reflect on Biden’s triumph with tempered enthusiasm, pointing to Biden’s carceral and foreign policy records as evidence of his disconnect with current activist movements and more progressive youth audiences.

For the fiscal year ending June 30, Columbia’s endowment produced returns of 5.5 percent on the assets in its portfolio, down 3.6 percent from the University’s trailing 9.1 percent 10-year returns.