Acorns and Tai Chi

I have a few Furnald stories.

I remember once making my bed late one morning and finding an acorn in the sheets. Thinking nothing more than, “That’s weird,” I threw it out the window and...

Columbia College 1990

Almost Like Hercule Poirot!

My favorite teacher definitely was Sig Grava, a distinguished guy who reminded me of Peter Ustinov playing Hercule Poirot. He carried clippings from the New York Times into the classroom and thus connected theory with...

Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation 1990

Beautiful Site

Although many of the gardens on campus are lovely throughout the year, my family and I especially appreciate the beds of Columbia Blue iris that bloom just once each year around the base of Low Library.

A...

Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation 1990

Beauty on Campus

I was on campus from Aug 1986-May 1990. I spent most of time on the steps overlooking the beautiful quad. Every day (weather permitting) for four years, I’d spend multiple hours on the steps just to...

Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science 1990

Best Library Moment

Sophomore year I was living with my ex-girlfriend and my best friend, Vince, in a 3-person suite in East Campus. It was close to mid-terms, and the tension in the suite was rising as exams got...

Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science 1990

Best Sports Event I Saw

In the spring of my sophomore year, 1988, I asked the Office of Sports Information how to try out for the position of Lion mascot. The answer was “You got the job!” The lion...

Columbia College 1990

Change the World, Bit by Bit, Byte by Byte

Two aspects of my Columbia experience turned out to be the opposite of what I had expected. And two other aspects of Columbia changed me – or didn’t!

After graduation,...

Graduate School of Journalism 1990, Graduate School of Business 1990

Chrysalis of Awareness: The First Step in World Change

Columbia provided the environment for the most dramatic growth I have experienced, immersed in a culture of diverse and amazing colleagues undergoing similar growth and guided by the luminance of...

Columbia College 1990

Clean & Sober Graduation

My graduation was an unforgettable moment: I sat amongst the thousands in a sea of light blue cap and gowns. I had completed my three-year M.F.A. degree in Directing at Columbia’s School of the Arts.

School of the Arts 1990

Columbia Books to Live By

Many books from my Columbia days have had profound impact on my appreciation of Western and Eastern civilization and on my worldview. One of these was a book from Professor Robert Thurman’s class, Buddhist...

Columbia College 1990

Columbia Spirituality: Buddhism

As a Theravada Buddhist by family tradition, I arrived at Columbia with a cultural exposure to layperson Buddhist practice, as well as a superficial understanding acquired through the excuse of getting out of bible study class...

Columbia College 1990

Convolution

I was introduced to the mathematical operation of “convolution” as an aspiring EE (Electrical Engineering) student in an Electromagenetics course taught by a professor already named in these archives by someone else. Now, I wanted to be a...

School of General Studies 1990

Favorite Place (Not) to Study

My favorite place to relax was the gardens at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine. I would bring my books along to seek some solace in the serene greenery of the gardens, the...

Columbia College 1990

Furnald Hall: The Jewel of Broadway

Say what you will about the less-than-sanitary shared kitchen and co-ed bathrooms in Furnald Hall: it was still a jewel to me and a fabulous place to live during junior and senior years....

Teachers College 1990, Columbia College 1989

Geiger Counters

One moment from my four years in the Columbia dormitories that I will never forget was during my freshman year (1986-1987 academic year). Campus security, who had discovered that radioactive material had been stolen from the physics...

Columbia College 1990

Gospel!

During the winter and spring, numerous students and parents packed Altschul Auditorium in SIPA to hear the joyous and triumphant sounds of the Barnard-Columbia Gospel Choir. Some of my fondest memories of Columbia are of directing the choir...

Teachers College 1990, Columbia College 1989

Howard

I spent thirty minutes a week with Professor Howard Stein in his Dodge Hall office, where he taught me as much about life as about playwriting.

Thank you, Howard.

School of the Arts 1990

“Little Mermaid Message”

Sorry to quote myself, but I did like my short simple introduction to my mom’s message, which i sent to Jeff Rake, who sent it to ten people, who sent it to ten people, and so...

Columbia College 1990

Love Letter to Alma Mater

Columbia is indeed a special place. Every time I walk across College Walk, a feeling of family comes across my heart and a sense of opportunity comes to mind.

I first set foot on...

School of Law 1990

Moving In Day at Carman

My first year at Columbia, I lived in Carman, which was a brand new dorm. Moving in went smoothly until the door to the room got stuck closed - with my mother inside. We...

Columbia College 1990

Slow Is Smooth. Smooth Is Fast.

Seventeen years ago, I wish I could have told myself: “Slow is Smooth. Smooth is Fast.” I have had the the Big, High-Profile jobs in New York; I commanded Special Forces Soldiers in...

School of General Studies 1990

Snooze

I used to love the Architecture library as it had particularly comfortable easy chairs to take a snooze in between classes, since I had an early class on Tuesdays and a huge chunk of downtime until the next...

School of General Studies 1990

The Lows and Highs of Campus Beauty

An urban university campus is not the first place in the world that comes to mind when I think of locations that have the capability to move the soul, but Columbia has...

Columbia College 1990

The Time of My Life: Fraternity Pre-Initiation

The most memorable time of my life at Columbia was the pre-initiation night for me and my pledge brothers of Zeta Psi fraternity. As we went from one assigned mission to the...

Columbia College 1990

A Happy Baby at Columbia

It’s funny I’ve been asked this question as I was just thinking of it the other day. My favorite place to relax on campus, and I did it A LOT, was at the…(can’t remember...

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences 1991

Rolled-up Carpet

Freshman Year, Carmen Hall, 8th floor (1983)

Jon, John, & Steve find a rolled up carpet in a dumpster and say, “Hey, that would look great in our dorm room.” They get in the elevator and try...

Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science 1987, Graduate School of Business 1991

Scowl (A Lament, with Apologies to Allen Ginsberg)

Scowl (A Lament, with Apologies to Allen Ginsberg)

I.

I’ve seen the best minds of my generation silenced by manufactured fear,

Banalized by materialist want, marginalized by a creeping sense of...

Columbia College 1975, School of International and Public Affairs 1991

Carol Schulz

Carol Schulz was my Korean language instructor for just two and a half years during my Columbia College days, but was my “mother away from home” for nine of the 10 years that I was on the...

School of Law 1992, School of International and Public Affairs 1992, Columbia College 1987

Drew’s: The First-Year’s Watering Hole

I was so sorry to learn that Drew’s, at the SW corner of 106th and Broadway, had become a food market some years back. After all, if it were not for the establishment’s completely...

Columbia College 1992

Fluffy Little Clouds . . .

So I’m living in Furnald Hall during my sophomore through senior years (which was a feat in itself, since everyone seemed to want the large rooms in Furnald!) between 1989-1992, and typically had...

Columbia College 1992

Frankenstein Plus

My junior year, I took a course in Gothic Literature. I was trying to save money on books and discovered that many of the novels we were reading were available in Butler – and nobody else seemed...

Columbia College 1992

Freshman Orientation in Furnald Hall

Coming from an extremely conservative immigrant family, I was not allowed to live in the dorms my freshman year. My parents claimed that it was an unreasonable expense, given that we lived just across...

Columbia College 1992

My Columbia

This is a reply to the question of whether I still keep in touch with fellow Columbia alumni. I mainly keep in touch with:

Daniel Snyder (ENG 92)

Mudit Tyagi (ENG 93)

Will Marrero (CC 92)

Sue...

Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science 1992

Orgo Night

When I was a freshman at Columbia, I worked late hours at the reserve desk. I happened to be on duty the night before the Organic Chemistry final. I now know that there was (is?) a tradition...

Columbia College 1992

Surviving the Winter

Growing up in California, my father was a fresh air fanatic. He insisted that you should always sleep with a window slightly ajar for some fresh air. That worked fine in California, but it created some...

Columbia College 1988, Teachers College 1992

The Future

The one thing I would tell my college-aged self, knowing what I know today, is to follow every dream. One never knows what you may find at the end of a particular path, and you won’t know...

Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science 1992

The great flood of ‘92

Who would have thought that living on the 12th floor of John Jay would require flood insurance? One day a standpipe broke on the 14th floor, and a foot of water flooded the 14th...

Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science 1992

The Herodotus Quiz

When my father helped me move to New York to begin my graduate studies at SIPA, we took a walk across the main campus, a rare moment alone for the two of us.

He quizzed me,...

School of International and Public Affairs 1992

Hang Time

One of my favorite places to hang/study was the Hungarian bakery a couple of doors down from V&T’s Pizza. I eventually found the right balance of caffeine and sugar to keep me sharp while working through the...

Columbia College 1993

If I Could Find the Time to Hang Out…

I din’t have much time to hang out when I was at CU. My studies were demanding (one year in journalism, followed by one year in SIPA, two master’s degrees...

School of International and Public Affairs 1993, Graduate School of Journalism 1992

Planning a Life

In 1956, Joni, my recently-departed beloved, and I began planning our life late at night on the steps of Low Memorial Library. From time to time we would stay late enough to get nudged by security....

Columbia College 1960, Graduate School of Business 1992, School of Public Health 1993

Relaxing on Sunday Mornings

My favorite place to relax at Columbia was on Low steps. My wife (she is now anyway), Rebecca (‘93) and I would go to Columbia Bagels on Sunday mornings and ask “What’s hot?” The employees...

Columbia College 1993

SILENCE & LIGHT

I remember two experiences which happened before, and after my graduation at Columbia. Although both were secular events I remember them as profound and at least for me religious experiences.

The first experience was an individual...

Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation 1993

Timeless Meaning

The rigors of the Core Curriculum saw to it that I read what seemed like an infinite number of pages of the collective wisdom of Western Civilization. Unfortunately, I have a far greater appreciation for that now...

Columbia College 1993

Abroad in Kenya

The early 90s were somewhat charged with cross-cultural issues, accentuated by the Audubon Ballroom construction plans. I had decided a year before, as a wise fool, that I would take the rural south head-on through Teach...

Columbia College 1994

Ani DiFranco, Neil Young

1. A high school buddy came from out of town for a few days and saw posters on campus for an Ani DiFranco concert in Wollman Auditorium (may it rest in asbestos-abated peace). Needless...

   Columbia College 1994

Club Law at Our Apartment

Lee Feldshon, my roomie in 1993-94, was in the Law School. He had it all–smart, dashing, etc.

He had a great Law School party for the whole class, it seemed like, near the end...

Graduate School of Journalism 1994

Co-ed Bathrooms

I remember moving into Furnald dorm for my junior year and realizing for the first time that not only was the floor co-ed, but the bathrooms were, too.

I noticed that in the stall next to me...

Columbia College 1994

Greatest Sports Moment

The greatest sports moment that I witnessed on campus was last seasons Men’s Basketball victory over Princeton at the buzzer on 2/18/06. This came after beating Penn the night before and on the induction night for...

Columbia College 1994

King Lear and Professor Tayler

Although at age 19 I had little understanding of Professor Tayler’s lectures on Shakespeare’s great tragedies, I knew enough to copy what he was saying as completely as I could. I recall him standing...

Columbia College 1987, Teachers College 1994

Make It Good!

My strongest memories of Tom’s Restaurant were always of Pete, who would add, “Make it good!” to kitchen orders, as if otherwise the cooks would “Make it bad!”

The other enduring image I have of Tom’s...

Columbia College 1994

Pediatric Dentistry Rules!!!

Pediatric dentistry rules!!!

School of Dental and Oral Surgery 1994

Experimental Art at Prentis Hall

One memory sticks out beyond others in my Columbia experience: a series of crazed, semi-unofficial parties in Prentis Hall on 125th St. Home to Columbia’s world-class computer music center as well as the industrial...

Columbia College 1995

Furnald Fun

Who doesn’t have a story about the dorms? I remember trekking up all those flights of stairs in my Columbia boxers to move into Carman 13, the band that practiced down the hall and only seemed to...

Columbia College 1995

Love of Cities

Attending Columbia ignited my love of cities. I grew up and attended architecture school in suburbia, with only periodic ventures into any nearby city. Moving to 113th Street and immersing myself in the preservation program was...

Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation 1995

The Frightening City Turns Out to Be Friendly

I will never forget the first day I arrived at Columbia. I had just flown in from the West Coast and had managed to traverse the airport and shove all of...

Barnard College 1995

Wein Hall

As a member of the women’s basketball team, I was required to stay on campus during Christmas Break. During my sophomore year, I lived in Wein in a single with my best friend across the hall. Campus...

Columbia College 1995

Breaking the Tension in Low

It was during the days of the Ethnic Studies protests in April 1996. Students had entered Low Library to lend support to negotiators meeting with administrators–but President Rupp took umbrage, and would not meet...

Columbia College 1996

Extended Winter Parking in NYC

Every permanent and temporary New Yorker knows about the difficulty of finding parking in NYC - SIPA graduate students are no exception. Having grown up in nearby New Jersey, I enjoyed the advantage of...

School of International and Public Affairs 1996

The Big Chill - Surviving Winter

I wrap a headband around my ears and put a hat on, along with gloves and a scarf and a really warm and waterproof coat. Then hit the streets, slopes, or whatever!!

Columbia College 1996

The Day Ball Points Got a Chilly Reception

No, not now. Not here. Not in the middle of the street in the middle of the winter that had set a then-record in New York City for most snowfall.

As...

Graduate School of Journalism 1996

The DJ Stretch Armstrong Show Featuring Bobbito the Barber

Stretch was the DJ, Bob the hype-man/host–together they did the Stretch Armstrong Show on KCR from 1 to 5 AM Fridays. Starting in ‘92, I taped their show religiously. They...

Columbia College 1996

The Gate

During the spring of my sophomore year I moved into a room on the 2nd floor of Hartley, a forced exile from my beloved McBain that I did not take too well. I took it even less...

Columbia College 1996

The Hungarian Pastry Shop

At the beginning of my sophomore year at Columbia College, in 1989, I decided to study Russian. Within a week of starting my first-year Russian class, taught by a charming graduate student whose name escapes...

School of Law 1996, Columbia College 1992

When Did You Buy a Television?

The first night of freshman year (McBain on B’way and 113th St.), my mom called just as fire trucks were responding to an alarm.

Mom: (with a note of exasperation) Your roommate brought...

Columbia College 1996

Beethoven’s Fifth

I lived in a John Jay single my first year, on the fifth floor. My room was in the middle of the hallway, and on one end was Ben Middleman’s. Ben had great and varied musical tastes...

Columbia College 1997

Best Teacher

Colette Inez.

For her apt handling of subject matter, and concern for student learning.

School of General Studies 1997

Bold Leadership

The most memorable day at Columbia invokes memories of others like it. Here are two anecdotes that demonstrate strong leadership. First, when I was leaving CBS, I typed a letter of things I liked and didn’t like...

Graduate School of Business 1997

Make Up and Music

I remember lining the eyes of certain members of Jonathan Fire*Eater and Desfite with black coal before their shows at the Cooler or Acme Underground. Those times froth with excitement.

Columbia College 1997

My Dorms

My first dorm room was in John Jay. It was not so cold during the winter break compared to my friend’s room behind the FBH building. JJ is very private environment. Not much chance to bump into...

Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science 1997

My Thesis or My Life

During graduate school, I lived on the 29th floor of Haven Tower 2 at the Health Sciences campus. One winter morning, around 4am, one of my three apartment-mates burst into my bedroom and told...

School of Public Health 1997

Perfect Columbia Day

Submitted by Rod Allee, GSAS ‘97, American Studies

A gorgeous early summer day in 1992.

There was a breeze, slow and thorough, that afternoon. The brown haze had been blown clean beyond memory, leaving a shocking...

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences 1997

Social Work Meets Jazz in Manhattan

My memories of being in New York during my studies at the School of Social Work are always peppered with the sound of music–more specifically, with that of jazz. When I did have...

School of Social Work 1997

Spirituality During My Years at Columbia

At the ripe old age of “over 40,” I began my long term full-time graduate work at TC in 1991. That work was the culmination of a lifelong dream to attend Columbia. Early...

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences 1997, Teachers College 1993

Statistics…Whaaa?

It had been 11 years since I graduated from college with my bachelor of science in nursing, and I was very anxious about going back to school - papers, exams, etc., not to mention the fact that I...

School of Public Health 1997

Suite Accident

In my final year of residence, I was entitled to live in the suites located on 113th street. The hallway of my suite was too narrow for a closet door to open completely and be placed back...

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences 1997

To Value Difference

As an African-American male, feelings of isolation and hostility abounded during my years at the College. Misrepresentations of historical contributions of my forefathers and foremothers permeated my “classical” education and gave ongoing foundation to the insanity...

Columbia College 1993, Teachers College 1997

Alma Mater

I was always a big fan of the ’60s experience at Columbia University. The great minds that met there, the thought process that started with Ginsberg and bloomed into the generation of love and peace. The most...

School of General Studies 1998

Closing Broadway

The Columbia football team was fighting a four-year losing streak. The joke was they should play Macalaster (a college in my home town, St. Paul, MN), the other (much smaller) college with the four-year losing streak.

I...

Graduate School of Business 1998, Barnard College 1991

Commencement Beer Run

One of my favorite memories of Columbia was Commencement Day, when friends and I brought several bottles of bubbly, both beer and wine, to the ceremonies. It was a hot and sunny day, and, as Kofi...

Columbia College 1998

CU through a Newcomer’s Eyes

For most people, the image of giant steel gates evoke terrifying feelings of confinement. When I first walked through the gates of Columbia University, I was overpowered with a completely different emotion. For the...

Columbia College 1998

Facilities Manager

I spent my first and only summer on campus after completing my freshman year. I had decided not to return to Cleveland, so as to avoid working in the mall or at a restaurant waiting tables. Of...

Columbia College 1998

Howl Contest Entry

Do you remember River Rat? Dancing in the dregs,

Do you recall Phi Epsilon? Do you remember kegs?

In Manhattan, at Columbia, there was a microcosm of

America,

And the word up there was the word...

Columbia College 1991, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences 1998

Lunch Date

The day I’d like to relive is the day I had lunch with my wife on the top floor of Hamilton Hall. I was in my third year of law school. We were newlyweds, having married at...

School of Law 1998

Professor Rice

My Columbia education was a gift, especially having the opportunity to learn from Gene Rice. Each class with Professor Rice expanded my world and demonstrated the power of his unique first-person research. His lectures were perfectly crafted,...

Columbia College 1998

Sledding on the Lowe Steps

How we kept warm in the winter: we would borrow lunch trays from the cafetorium when we got a good snow, and sled down the Steps. It was fun, and challenging. Those trays don’t...

Columbia College 1998

Stretch & Bobbito

Moving from my hometown, Wheeling, West Virginia, to Manhattan to attend Columbia was an eye-opener in innumerable ways. But more than anything, it was the music that made me glad I had made the journey. During...

Columbia College 1998

50th Class Reunion

On May 18-19, 1999, the Class of 1949 celebrated our 50th graduation ceremony. On May 18, 1999, I was nominated to give out the 1999 graduation pins to all the seniors of the graduating class of...

Columbia College 1999

Advice to My Columbia-Bound Self

1. Reconsider the nose ring. You’ll like it for a few years, but in the end your mother will be proven right.

2. Break up with him. He’s a nice boy, but...

   Columbia College 1999

Amazing Coincidence

The very first class I attended as a student of the School of Social Work was Social Policy with Richard Cloward. He began the class by welcoming us all to the program and to his class specifically,...

School of Social Work 1999

FBeeOtch

My freshman year, 1995/96, I began deejaying at WKCR the last year that the radio studio was located in Ferris Booth Hall. I did one of the overnight time slots, and the hour from three until four am...

Columbia College 1999

Oh, those wonderful dorms

Gosh, how do I miss them? What do I miss most? One of the best things was the view from East Campus. I liked staying up late and socializing in Carman: playing spades and hearts,...

Columbia College 1999

Openness

My spiritual experience at Columbia was exceptional. I was born and raised Catholic and as an adult struggled to combine my personal values with the dogma of the church. During my final year at the School of Social...

School of Social Work 1999

Owl Hunting

I have the fondest memory of orientation week, thanks to the Columbia Spectator. Some of my new friends (who after a week of pre-orientation in the Catskill Mountains felt like old friends) were enjoying a warm early...

Columbia College 1999