Lounge

It might have been difficult to find the perfect study spot on campus during finals season, but how about during a global pandemic? For students living either on or off campus, it can be exhausting to search for a place to sit and work with the physical distancing guidelines. Spectrum’s got you covered with tips on where to study around campus during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The West End Lounge, a bar and performance venue that has been a fixture of the Upper West Side since 1997, is known for its constant rotation of live entertainment ranging from concerts to drag shows. Over its 23 years of operation, it has warmly welcomed an enigmatic mix of performing talents, student musicians, and local patrons.

During a days-long occupation of what would eventually become the Malcolm X Lounge in April 1970, students from the Afro-American Society demanded that Columbia create an official space for Black students on campus. Their demands reflected the momentum from the 1968 protests, during which students occupied Hamilton Hall in protest of the University’s plans to build a segregated gym in Morningside Park.

With the help of donations from two General Studies alumni, Columbia will dedicate the student lounge in Lewisohn Hall to former GS Dean Peter Awn next April.

The GS Student Lounge is located in Lewisohn Hall; it’s a space open to all students in the School of General Studies. The lounge itself is a simple room, but the students who fill it bring the space to life. To capture how the GS Lounge impacts the lives of current students, I asked 12 of them what draws them to the space. Their responses tell the story of the lounge as a place where individual friendships are made and a greater community is formed.

Lerner Central Lounge, the recently refurbished study-free space dedicated to student recreation, has become yet another study space one semester after its opening.

“A lot of the time, when people first come to Lerner … they don’t know where they’re going.” This sentence, pulled from a Spectator article published 10 years ago, speaks to my own first impression of Lerner. A few meeting rooms and some steel ramps spiraling toward ever-higher floors didn't indicate any concrete function the building was supposed to serve. I initially thought of Lerner as the home of Ferris Booth Commons and some administrative offices; later I saw it as a multifunctional space with some auditoriums and club meeting rooms. Yet through all this, Lerner never left me the impression of being a student center: a space where students freely meet and socialize; the epicenter of student activity on campus.

One of the most salient issues currently facing General Studies students is space—more specifically, how the extra space left in Uris Hall will be used after the Business School moves to Columbia's new Manhattanville campus. Once Manhattanville opens, Columbia must evaluate the needs of all students in Morningside Heights, including General Studies students, when divvying out the newly available space.

The Black Students' Organization directly challenged Columbia College Student Council's handling of issues of race and diversity at the council's general body meeting on Sunday.

The Seeley W. Mudd Building will undergo major renovations next semester, including the installation of new glass walls and redistribution of study space.