The Trust Collaboratory at Columbia hosted a listening tables event on South Lawn Wednesday, bringing together University President Jennifer Mnookin, senior administrators, faculty, and students, three years after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and the resulting war in Gaza.

Hunter Doradea, GS ’26, grew up hearing his mother’s accounts of surviving the civil war in El Salvador and the feeling of having no one to speak for her. Those stories shaped how Doradea perceived his civic responsibility—it also later led him to participate in pro-Palestinian student protests.

The Columbia chapter of Students Supporting Israel partnered with two pro-Israel organizations Monday to set up 1,205 chairs in memory of those killed by Hamas during its attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Two Columbia executives first appointed by former University President Lee Bollinger, Law ’71, are returning to the University as its era of administrative turnover continues.

Forbes ranked Columbia second on its 2026 “America’s Top Colleges” list released in August after it analyzed 500 colleges that “offer the best educational, financial and career outcomes for all students.”

The search for Columbia’s 21st University president has been ongoing for almost five months.

Graduate students at the School of International and Public Affairs held a press conference on April 15 announcing the launch of the United Students of America Coalition. The coalition was formed “by a group of students determined to unite our campuses against undue political influence and administrative overreach,” the coalition’s website reads.

Acting University President Claire Shipman, CC ’86, SIPA ’94, signed a statement along with over 200 other U.S. college and university leaders on Tuesday condemning “government overreach and political interference” on university campuses. Shipman had not signed the letter when it was first published, according to the Wayback Machine, which displays archived web pages.