Liz’s-Place

The past decade in Columbia lacrosse has seen seven last-place finishes and zero winning seasons, but the Light Blue has still managed to exceed expectations. For the first time in program history, the Lions did not finish the season in last place or tied for last place in the Ivy League—and then proceeded to rank above the bottom of the table two more times.

After five years with the team, head lacrosse coach Andrea Cofrin announced her resignation from the program this Monday, effective immediately. The Lions still have nine games left in their season.

The 2010s was the best decade in Columbia volleyball history. Volleyball experienced four top-three finishes and nine All-Ivy League First Team selections, making the 2010s the most successful decade in the entire history of the program. While the team had stretches of dominance and flashes of title contention, it also had long periods of inconsistency. The Lions found themselves in the bottom quarter of the conference in four seasons and with three different coaches throughout the decade. Over the course of the decade, volleyball finished 112-125 overall, and 62-78 in conference play.

In order to inspire lasting change and shape the fundamental culture and climate of departments, a cohort of faculty and administrators have convened to tackle pervasive issues of harrassment and discrimination within Arts and Sciences, introducing bystander training workshops and revising hiring and promotion policies to enforce ideas of diversity and inclusion to create a “culture of respect” within academia.

Despite fighting until the end in front of the home fans on Alumnae Day, the Columbia women’s soccer team failed to score on Saturday evening against Brown, and could not capture its second Ivy League victory of the season. This loss marks the first time in a decade that the Light Blue has lost to Brown. The Bears, who now lead the league with six points, scored twice on the day for its win.

Liz’s Place has opened its doors again after a summer of renovations, and though it reopens under the same name, the café has transformed its offerings in accordance with Barnard’s change in food provider from Aramark to Chartwells.

I don’t remember much about the movie Sully, in which Tom Hanks plays the heroic pilot who crash-landed a plane on the Hudson River in 2009, but I do recall the thrill of watching the flight attendants do their jobs so well. As the plane nosedives, they leap into action in unison. They issue impossibly calm instructions and usher the passengers onto the wings while the cabin fills with ice-cold water. Everyone survives.

Amid several meal plan changes, many of which sparked student outrage this summer, Barnard has expanded swipe access for students, extended the Diana Center Cafe’s hours, and unveiled a new cafe in the Milstein Center.

Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons has unveiled a new financial aid policy guaranteeing debt-free graduation for its students, making it the first medical school in the country to institute scholarship-only financial aid.

Construction work to address emergency safety repairs at JJ’s Place prevented Barnard and General Studies students from entering the dining hall from last Thursday, when repairs began, to Sunday, when they were completed.