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
It’s a perfect fall day in New York City: the air is crisp, the leaves are crunching, and a variety of wild plants are giving it their last go with a final explosion of color before season’s end. But as Adam Blumenberg, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC), will tell you, some of those plants deserve a second look before taking them home.
Pokeweed, with its purple berries, can cause gastrointestinal distress. Jimson weed, with its spiky seed pods and white flowers, can cause severe delirium. Ginkgo leaves, when ingested in large amounts, can cause seizures.
Blumenberg is an emergency physician and board-certified medical toxicologist at CUIMC, where he cares for patients who have been poisoned and teaches the next generation of doctors. He also happens to make two podcasts about poison. We’d say this makes him a pretty good person to interview in this mysterious season.
COLUMBIA HISTORY
Columbia started classes in the new Morningside Heights campus in October 1897. On this brand new campus, the engineering students finally had ample classroom and laboratory space in their two new buildings: the School of Mines (now Lewisohn) and the School of Engineering (now Mathematics). But did you know that there used to be a full-size locomotive engine underneath Havemeyer Hall?
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More Stories
Columbia University joins community members in honoring the impact and influence of Charles B. Rangel.
Science, summer, and Skywalker — just your average class trip to the National Museum of Mathematics.
Rain came down outside, but that made for an even more communal atmosphere inside at the annual celebration on June 7.
The Columbia Space Initiative’s rocketry team was recognized by competition officials.
![Mailman School of Public Health graduates celebrate with blue flags waving in the air.](/sites/news.columbia.edu/files/styles/cu_crop/public/content/2025/commencement-046-diane-bondareff-700.jpg.webp?itok=oiEupCX0 ""Building a healthy and just world," read the flags of Mailman School of Public Health graduates. Photo by Diane Bondareff.")
From Ivy League titles to research breakthroughs, Columbians are racking up the wins.
The School of Professional Studies has an outline of some of the best summer activities, categorized by month and proximity to campus.
The June 24 primary will feature ranked-choice voting for mayor, among other citywide offices.
Here are a few local events you can participate in to honor Juneteenth this year.
May 21 marked the conferral of 15,000+ degrees upon Columbia's newest graduates, who hail from all 50 states and 100+ countries.
Grab your tissues: We asked the Class of 2025 to share their photos, memories, gratitude, and advice in anticipation of Commencement Week.
On May 13, Acting President Shipman visited labs across disciplines that are advancing bold solutions to today’s most urgent challenges.
Johnson will serve alongside David Greenwald (LAW’83), who became co-chair in 2023.
