This page is dedicated to stories about Columbia's campus and community. From student, staff, and faculty profiles to interesting events happening on campus and in our surrounding neighborhoods, here is where you can find the latest about what's happening on and around Columbia's campuses.
Story Highlight
Columbia University has marked Commencement since 1758, and for the past 100 years, outdoors on Low Plaza in front of the proud eyes of Alma Mater. On May 20, the Class of 2026 carried that tradition forward as the University’s 272nd academic year closed with the conferral of 18,000+ degrees upon graduates of 19 schools and affiliates, representing all 50 states (plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico) and 140 countries from around the globe.
Over the past week, the graduating class was also celebrated through school ceremonies, festive fêtes, and beloved traditions like the lighting of the Empire State Building.
Although rain was predicted during a record heat advisory, the weather held out for graduates of two Commencement ceremonies, with sunny skies in the morning for graduate schools and blessed, intermittent cloud cover in the afternoon for undergraduate schools. It was a fitting tribute to a century of Commencement, rain or shine, on the Morningside campus.
COLUMBIA HISTORY
Christopher Brown spends a lot of time thinking about the past. A Professor of History at Columbia, Brown's work focuses on Britain and the British Empire, principally in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. As the nation celebrates its semiquincentennial, Professor Brown discusses the importance of inspiring a love of history in future scholars and leaders.
We also speak with University Archivist Jocelyn Wilk about a recent acquisition to Columbia's Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Also known as the RBML, the library preserves the documents, books, pamphlets, maps, and other items that tell the story of the people who built the school once known as King's College.
This video offers a closer look at Professor Brown, the RBML, and how Columbia helps protect the memory and memorabilia of the early years of the university and the United States.
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Out and About
More Stories
On the northeast corner of Low Library sits a low-profile 9/11 memorial to members of the Columbia Business School community. How did that memorial come to be?
In commemoration of this somber date, Columbia News reached out to our community to learn what Columbians witnessed and recalled from September 11, 2001.
Check out these restaurants, markets, pastry shops, pet stores, and more when you return to campus this fall.
In preparing for the return to campus, we asked current students and alumni to share their tips and tricks for making life at Columbia that much more enjoyable. Have you tried all 28 of these ideas?
Columbia is welcoming students back to campus for the first time since 2020 with events meant to help ‘connect, reflect and learn about the wonderful people and resources that make up the Columbia community.’
Whether baseball stats or tap dance is your jam, there’s a community here that shares your passion.
In basements, stairwells, factories, and courtyards lie some of Columbia University’s most intriguing and little-known bits of history.
Michelle Young, GSAPP alumna and faculty member as well as founder of Untapped New York, helps reacquaint us with the can't-miss spots of Morningside campus as students return this fall.
Columbians have long been biking to and around campus, but added bike racks and safer street connections throughout the city make two-wheeling it more appealing than ever before.
Beat the summer heat with some cool podcasts from around our community.
On June 21, Columbia University Libraries hosted a ribbon-cutting to symbolize the full reopening of library spaces. Here's what you can expect this fall.
Celebrate LGBTQ+ history at Columbia and the people who made that history with a little trivia.
