Lerner-Hall

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.

This week, many undergraduates received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in Lerner Hall. With the recent addition of individuals 16 and older to the eligibility pool for COVID-19 vaccines, almost the entire Columbia community is now eligible to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Over a century ago, Barnard commissioned actress and interior decorator Elsie de Wolfe to furnish a newly built Brooks Hall. Known for designing the Colony Club, she brought in chintz, silks, and mahogany antiques—all the trappings of the gaudy New York elite—to attract wealthy students to the college from out of town. Only a year earlier, the very idea of a residential hall on campus seemed unimaginable to students, let alone one with Wolfe’s over-the-top parlor décor. That is, every student except for Barnard senior and amateur playwright Edith Somborn Isaacs, BC 1906.

In many ways, March 22, 1987, was an ordinary Friday night. A crowd of students congregated in Ferris Booth Commons, with the usual noise and rush of excitement in anticipation of the weekend. On any other Friday night, you might not have noticed Mike Jones, a junior at Columbia College. Jones’ friends describe him as short and unassuming in build but with a toughness and sense of self-assurance. But on this particular night—a night that would shape the months to come—Jones walked into the dining hall with the urge to be heard.

This past year, student filmmakers at Columbia have tried to pursue their craft remotely, struggling to shoot footage and find a platform on which to showcase their films. The Athena Film Festival’s “Discovery: Student Shorts Program” celebrates the works of student and first-time female filmmakers who have directed or shown their films during the pandemic. The films touch on themes of gender-based wage discrimination, racial tensions, sexism in film, and following one’s passions in the face of adversity. Director Amit Lerner’s “Pam,” for example, showcases her creativity and identity as an Israeli-American student filmmaker with a broader audience.

Students living in Hartley Hall received an email from Cristen Kromm, the dean of undergraduate student life, and Dr. Melanie Bernitz, the senior vice president of Columbia Health, last week notifying them that several Hartley residents had tested positive for COVID-19 and that a potential building-wide lockdown was being considered.

In past years, Hewitt Dining Hall has served as a vibrant and cozy space filled with natural light and much conversation among students and professors. Events such as Big Sub and Midnight Breakfast brought the student body together to celebrate and enjoy food. However, amid the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing measures in place, Barnard Dining has been forced to adapt as students returned to campus this spring.