Columbia-Ballet-Collaborative

If you have spent any time on Columbia’s campus over the past year, you have probably seen the ubiquitous blue signs that read “Report a Health & Safety Violation” alongside a QR code that links directly to the Student Conduct and Community Standards website. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Columbia has utilized a number of evidence-based strategies in pursuit of a COVID-19-free campus, formalized in its Community Health Compact: mandatory twice-weekly PCR testing for students living in residence halls, wastewater surveillance, and, of course, limitations on which students can live in campus housing. The crux of the University’s plan, however, has been the requirement for all students to wear masks and keep physical distance between others at all times, including those with whom they share living spaces. The only exception is when eating or in a private room with the door closed. Accountability for following these policies is, in some ways, reliant on students filing anonymous reports on their peers to Student Conduct and Community Standards. This method seems ineffective and diffuses accountability in a way that often leaves students feeling conflicted. Undergraduate students should not be expected to be the first line of defense against this invisible enemy when the University is ultimately responsible for where and how students are housed.

A new $1.4 billion funding campaign was announced by University President Lee Bollinger in an email Thursday. The Columbia Student Support Initiative will provide assistance to all 16 schools at the University, with a goal of raising all funds by June 2025.

Artist Liam McGrane, GS ’24, depicts students’ lack of preparation for the summer semester after a turbulent fall and spring semester.

After three weeks of the Graduate Workers of Columbia-United Auto Workers strike, University President Lee Bollinger announced that the University must reject the union’s demands in the spirit of “preserving the authentic graduate student experience of financial and emotional suffering.”

Kimberly Tsui, CC ’22, is an avid follower of Hollywood news. As a self-described nerd who hopes to one day enter the film industry, Tsui frequently reads content produced by large publications like Variety and The Hollywood Reporter. However, she often found herself dissatisfied by the emphasis that news reports placed on objectivity, rather than taking a stance on issues of representation. As a response to this dissatisfaction, she founded Stereoscope Magazine.

As Mallory Bechtel, GS ’24, sits in her childhood bedroom, I see four posters from musical theater productions behind her: Les Misérables, White Christmas, Bring it On!, and Whistle Down the Wind. The last, she tells me, was her first professional show—at the ripe age of seven, she was pulled from the training program to join the ensemble for the Houston leg of the 2007 U.S. tour.

Mike Smith, CC ’20, a former star for the Lions who transferred to the University of Michigan last year, has announced that he will enter the NBA Draft. Smith was a key contributor to the Wolverines, who earned a spot in the Elite Eight in the NCAA March Madness tournament this year before being knocked out by UCLA.

Columbia-Barnard Young Democratic Socialists of America’s tuition strike, which organizers claim mobilized at least 1,000 student strikers at its peak, ended on Monday, April 5.