2024 Year in Pictures
Take a look back at some of the visual highlights of 2024 from across the Columbia community.
2025 is nearly upon us, but what would December be without a look back at the past year in preparation for the new?
Take a visual journey with us over the past 12 months to glimpse the big and small moments that made Columbia in 2024.
On Jan. 19, 2024, Mission Spiritus Antarctica polar explorers Alan Chambers and Dave Thomas completed their unassisted trek to the South Pole, in collaboration with Columbia Climate School's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory for research on the global impact of microplastics and nanoplastics. They made the trek over an epic 58 days battling extreme conditions.
For more inspiration on Columbians' relationship with our planet, check out Columbia Climate School's #ColumbiaBeautifulPlanet photo series.
In May, 16,000+ students from 19 schools and affiliates graduated from Columbia University. Between school ceremonies, graduation celebrations, and the Empire State Building lighting, the Class of 2024 has celebrated in style. Our photographers were there to capture it all.
On Aug. 1, former Columbia standout Jackie Dubrovich (CC'16) made history, helping the United States secure its first-ever gold medal in an Olympic fencing team competition. Dubrovich and the world's No. 2-ranked women's foil squad defeated top-seeded Italy, 45-39, in the gold medal match to secure the top spot on the podium. With this win, Dubrovich became the first Columbia fencer to ever win a gold medal at the Olympics!
In late August, New Student Orientation Program (NSOP) leaders enthusiastically greeted and celebrated the newest lions — the incoming Class of 2028 — kicking off a jam-packed few weeks of welcome activities across all of Columbia's campuses.
Interim President Katrina Armstrong spent her first few weeks at the helm of Columbia meeting students, including at several "Treats on the Plaza" welcome week events that were held across campuses and featured lemonade and ice cream.
"I believe deeply in the mission of the University to educate, to discover, and to do all we can to leave the world better than we found it," Armstrong wrote in a welcome letter to the Columbia community. "I come to this because of my belief in Columbia, what we can do as we move forward together."
On Sept. 19, 2024, more than 1,280 students from five public elementary schools in Washington Heights filled Haven Plaza at Columbia University Irving Medical Center to learn about science from interactive, hands-on experiments and to seek information about careers in STEM—science, technology, engineering, and math. The program exemplifies Columbia's commitment to encouraging kids and adolescents to explore science, engineering, medicine, and more.
On Sept. 21, 2024, Morningside Lights returned for the 13th year with a fleet of awe-inspiring and colorful lanterns that illuminated its procession from Morningside Park to College Walk. With “In Retrospect: 100 Years of New York Art” as the theme, Columbians and our neighbors created handmade lanterns celebrating 100 years of art and artists that have inspired and shaped our vision of New York City.
On Nov. 11, 2024, students and staff hopped aboard Columbia's Veterans Day float to salute veterans' service, including the thousands of Columbia student and alumni military veterans. For the 16th consecutive year, Columbia School of General Studies was a major sponsor of the country's largest Veterans Day Parade.
In November, Columbia students joined together for a Friendsgiving feast and fête, hosted by Columbia Dining — complete with a visit from Chef Mike!
From Morningside (pictured above) to Manhattanville and 125th St. in Harlem, Columbians got into the festive spirit in November and December with various holiday lighting ceremonies and celebrations, like the fifteenth annual Kwanzaa Ball, hosted by Columbia's Black Student Organization.
2024 was a huge year for Columbia Athletics, exemplified by this 2024-2025 "All-31" photo, taken at Overlook at Hunters Point Park South in Long Island City, Queens, which features student-athletes from all 31 varsity programs.
Some of the incredible athletic highlights of 2024:
- Men's and Women's Fencing won Ivy League titles
- Women's Basketball defended their Ivy League title
- Abbey Hsu (CC'24) and Kaitlyn Davis (CC'23) were drafted to the WNBA
- Men's Tennis captured the Ivy League title
- Columbia Baseball took its 16th Ivy League championship
- Columbia's Recurve team won the Archery Recurve College Women's Team National Championship
- Columbia Football took home its first Ivy League title in 63 years
- Michael Zheng (CC'26) won Columbia’s first National Singles Tennis title of the NCAA championships era