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?
KEEP UP WITH THE LATEST
Did you know we have a biweekly newsletter filled with Campus & Community content you might not find anywhere else, delivered straight to your inbox?
Find the most recent editions here. And make sure you subscribe to receive the newsletter in your inbox every other Wednesday.
Out and About
More Stories
This June, Columbians won major awards, celebrated Pride Month, and reflected on Upper Manhattan’s role in American history. Test your knowledge of the latest news stories across the University!
From Convocation to Commencement, and everything in between.
Columbia’s annual celebration of community makes its return on June 27.
Whether on the road, the beach, or chilling next to the AC, let these podcasts made by Columbians be your summer audio accompaniment.
From Morris-Jumel Mansion to Dyckman Farmhouse Museum, Addiss shared historical sites to visit Uptown.
Melvin McCray III shares why preserving local histories, with the help of Columbia, matters as the nation approaches its 250th anniversary.
The June 23 primary will feature ranked-choice voting for local, city, and statewide offices.
With the 2026 World Cup kicking off on June 11, we’re shining a light on just a few of Columbia University’s all-time soccer greats.
This May, we published new research, celebrated athletic achievements, and bid farewell to the Class of 2026. Test your knowledge of the latest news stories across the University!
A new exhibition at the Rare Book & Manuscript Library looks back at how Columbia University marked the United States’ 200th birthday.
May 20 marked the conferral of 18,000+ degrees upon Columbia's newest graduates, who hail from all 50 states and 140 countries.
Velasco (CC’26) discussed her goals in oncology, the influence of her Bronx upbringing, and what graduation means to her.
