Reid-Hall

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.

Halfway through the interview with Dr. Raymond Givens, two young boys materialize through the slightly-pixelated Zoom virtual background displaying the stoic face of the rapper Biggie Smalls. The little one pops cheerfully through the famous rapper’s mouth, waving a tiny green toy at the camera, and the taller one comes running through the rapper’s tilted plastic crown, grinning cheekily and tugging at his father’s surgical scrubs. Givens, smiling at his sons and not at all fazed by the distraction, smoothly introduces his six-year-old, Lucas, and his two-year-old, Nicholas, pausing momentarily to swoop Nicholas into his lap and put his arm around Lucas’ shoulder. Givens gently corrals them out of the room, apologizes for the interruption, and without missing a beat, returns to the discussion of his efforts to change the name of Bard Hall.

Lately, I’ve been reframing the unique features of my body as gifts from generations before me. I imagine my smile as belonging to my ancestors who found reasons to smile despite great adversities. I wonder if my back that allows me to stand tall belonged to men who refused to cower in fear. Did my hips belong to women who found rhythm in the crashing waves of the Caribbean Sea?

Eight mysterious figures, a semicircle of red chairs, and a hollow, gray stage––together, a town hall meeting at the edge of a world in crisis. Immediately, these figures warn the audience: “This is serious.” However, they go on: “This is not important,” “[This is] just a play.”

Several acts of vandalism have been reported on the 16th floor of East Campus, according to an email sent by Residential Life to the building’s residents.

Home Sweet Harlem feels like chef and owner Donna Lewis’s home. The brick walls are lined with modern artwork by black artists, while the pale yellow backroom showcases old framed photographs. Lewis’ menu—which offers Southern food like homemade pancakes, fresh buttermilk biscuits, and salmon croquettes—exudes a similar sense of comfort.

I envy people who don’t like dining hall food because it means they must have grown up eating really good food. Dining hall food is delicious, but it will never be the same as whatever your mom, dad, grandparent, or other caretaker makes especially for you. And yet, out of all the love I have for my home, I’ve never felt nostalgic for a home-cooked meal. If we’re being perfectly honest, my family kinda cooks like shit. You always hear about how food is a person’s true connection to their home, culture, and family—but what if your parents aren’t very good cooks, and your grandparents live in Florida?