Campus & Community

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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

adam blumenberg
This Columbia Toxicologist’s Podcasts Are Perfect for Spooky Season

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. 

Photo of the Week

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Cheers to Our Newest Nobel Prize Winner!

Congratulations to Professor Michael Woodford, who won a Nobel Prize in Economics this week!

QUIZ

First Day of Classes
The Columbia News Quiz: September 2026

This September, Columbians debuted new music, won awards, and welcomed world leaders to campus. Test your knowledge of the latest news stories across the University!

COLUMBIA HISTORY

A train in the basement of Havemeyer in the early 1900s
The Locomotive Laboratory

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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Out and About

More Stories

The night of May 20, the Empire State Building will shine blue for #Columbia2026 grads. Here’s where to capture the best photos with it.

With her trusty secondhand Nikon from the ’90s, Erin Frank shoots film around New York City and finds that her camera and coursework have more in common than she expected.

The club’s co-presidents, Leticia De Mattei Goncalves (BUS’26) and William Szczecinski (BUS’26), discuss making a local impact while pursuing their MBAs.

Community Impact at Columbia University marked 45 years of service with one of its most inspiring honoree classes yet, including the longtime Director of Columbia Community Service.

Daniel Allalemdjian has spent a decade helping Columbia move more sustainably. Every year when graduation season rolls around, that means getting behind the wheel, literally.

Construction for graduation ceremonies on Morningside's Low Plaza near Alma Mater starts on April 13. Here are some great alternative spots for your graduation photos in the run-up to Commencement.

Not even Spring Break could slow us down, as Columbia athletes, researchers, and scholars made major strides in their fields. Test your knowledge of the latest news stories across the University!

Columbia's biggest celebration of the year will take place on the Morningside Heights campus—here's everything graduates and their guests need to know before May 20.

A recent survey identified that the University’s strengths are part of a broader, if fragmented, culture that is capable of constructive discourse.

How students in an advanced Columbia Spanish course create a public-facing podcast exploring Afro-Latina identity in the United States.

Founder Pierre Voltaire discusses how the project amplifies community voices through the arts, including exhibitions at Columbia University’s Bollinger Forum and collaborations with Columbia Engineering.

On March 20, 135 fourth-year medical students at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons opened the envelopes containing their match letters, learning where they will continue their medical training after graduation.

Topics & Resources

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Awards & Milestones

Columbia faculty, students, and staff are on the cutting edge of advancements in all fields. Here, you can find recent accomplishments and milestones.

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Columbia Events

Explore a wide range of academic, cultural, and athletic events happening every day at Columbia. Nearly all events are open to the public, except as noted, and most are free.

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Columbia Dining, Facilities, and Operations News

Whether you need a carpenter, an electrician, a locksmith, housing, lighting, painting, parking, plumbing, recycling, more space, or public safety services, or if you need to eat, plan an event, travel around campus, or mail and printing services—Columbia Facilities and Operations has you covered. 

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Columbia Neighbors

Columbia Neighbors is where the university connects with its local community, its new friends and neighbors, anyone who looks to the diversity of ideas and experiences in our community and sees the possibility for shared growth, being of service, and connection. 

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Photo of the Week

Photo of the Week captures moments from around the University and New York City. The series is curated by University Photographer Eileen Barroso and Jennifer Pellerito.

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University Life

University Life is focused on enhancing the student experience across Columbia’s 17 schools and colleges. It serves as a student life hub for the University and is committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive campus culture where students can thrive in all dimensions of their lives. 

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