Reflections on protest in the archives. by Magda Lena Griffel Illustration by Isabelle Oh Rumor had it the Rare Book and Manuscript Library had “materials” from the Spring 2024 protests. Curious, I hiked to Butler’s sixth floor, wedged my possessions into my designated locker, and entered the hallowed Woods reading room. Golf pencil sharpened, note paper stacked, I sifted through massive manila folders to find the latest addition, labeled “ Israel-Gaza War Protest .” I flippe

Navigating queer dating culture on campus . By Zayna Jamil Illustration by Ines Alto Four years, 48 months, 1344 days — I had been waiting for this moment. After years of imagining the new life ahead of me, the car was packed and ready to drive off with my suitcases, picture frames of hometown friends, and a loving family trying to delay saying goodbye to their newly-adult daughter at college. After a four hour drive, I stood at the towering gates of Columbia, intimidated, bu

Columbia’s real conservative newspaper. By Eli Baum Illustration by Selin Ho In April 2025, Columbia was on the verge of signing a deal with the Trump administration. It would have banned all masked protests on campus, restructured the University Senate, and created a committee to oversee University reforms. But at the critical moment when Columbia was about to sign, Harvard publicly stood up to the White House. Columbia decided that it could not capitulate to the Trump admin

On swenking, Sapeurs, and dressing well . By Nnema Épée-Bounya Illustration by Iris Pope I am in the back of a theater, the smallest theater I have ever been in. The seats are made of wood and have red velvet cushions. The woman next to me is eating a bag of chips extremely loudly, slowly, and self-consciously. The woman in front of me has an afro shaped like a heart, and I wonder if it’s intentional. Two middle-aged Black women sit beside me after arriving with the director

What it means to be Christian during the resurgence of the religious right.  By Althea Downing-Sherer Illustration by Em Bennet When people discover that my dad is a pastor, I feel compelled to assure them that I’m not that  kind of Christian: “But don’t worry, he’s, like, a really woke  pastor.” With a pride flag fluttering high above our church’s entrance to prevent local dissenters from stealing it and with church members prepping donations of school supplies, my church do

Reckoning with the large, the small, and the good life.  By Evan Rossi Illustration by Isabelle Oh On a gloomy October night in the heart of St. Paul’s Chapel, four musicians handling a violin, cello, clarinet, and piano attempted to conjure the end of time. The theme of the concert was spiritual music, and the quartet had decided on Quartet for the End of Time composed by Olivier Messiaen. Conceived inside a German prisoner-of-war camp, the eight-movement work is a figurativ

And they’re playing marches for the conquer’d and slain souls . By Abby Owens Illustration by Selin Ho A group of five or six 20-somethings stand before the crowd, swinging their arms in ape-like motion, hopping from one foot to the other like sumo wrestlers with no opponent but themselves. They begin violently do-si-do0-ing. Some members of the audience don’t know what the hell to make of it. One girl disentangles herself from another. Her face has gone red and she’s flaring

How post 9/11 immigration policy made way for today’s surveilling of international student s.  By Sayuri Govender  Illustration by Em Bennet Detentions of students for political dissent, the GOP’s encroachment into our classrooms, and an increase in ICE checkpoints around the city have created a fog of fear and suppression within and around our shut gates. The past few semesters at Columbia have been marked by pervasive government intervention that has censored and attacked o

Breaking down Columbia’s housing shuffle . By Erica Lee   Illustration by Jacqueline Subkhanberdina On the evening of June 30, nearly 160 School of General Studies students opened their inboxes to a puzzling email from Columbia Residential: their residence halls were “no longer available” for the coming school year, with no explanation given. Across the city and the world, Fairholm and Nuss leaseholders were texting and calling frantically.  Every student living in 503 W. 121

By Jewel Andersen  Oscillating between reality’s thin wires, flashes of Samhain fiending fleshed fires. Echo poised on the cliff’s edge seam, fish-mouthed and bowed in gaping scream. Or Ophelia — weed-laced and willow dazed. Nettle at wrist, daisy gaze half-raised. Foam-veiled, unmade, she mouths the flood — dream-drunk on silt and spindle-blood.

By Joseph Griffiths  I lived my life like the recluse tucked within his barky coat amid the dark boreal forest I kept still, not wishing to uproot that hidden light and dark, knowledge I only wished to see everyday, more terribly that beautiful thing that passed me he seemed moved or stuck in some otherworldly energy a love, it was obvious, that would elude my judgement. Until one day, he began hacking and I was feeling unsteady later, in the evening, snapping into my bed, cu

The Cubing Jedi . By Sepp Zammuto Illustration by Ellie Hodges “I just do this to mentally torture myself because it’s so hard.” Matty Hiroto Inaba, CC ’29, adjusts his glasses and stares contemplatively at his scrambled Rubik’s Cube. By mental torture, Matty means the exercise of planning the first two layers of the 3x3 entirely in his head—about 25 moves into the solution—before even turning it once.  He continues, “so now I’m gonna start tracking the pieces and then rebuil

Reflecting on 40 years of Shakespeare at Columbia. By Kate Sibery Illustration by Audrey Wang James Shapiro is the Larry Miller Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia where he has been teaching Shakespeare since 1985 and was an undergraduate in the 70s. He has published numerous books including, 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare , Shakespeare in a Divided America , and most recently, The Playbook: A Story of Theater, Democracy, and the Makin

By Hanna Lui and Ava Lozner Illustration by Jing Geng Affirmative by Hannah Lui In the summertime … The city festers with the impatience of a man lying awake waiting for his wife to return from her lover, feeling the heat stir… My favorite work of literature begins thus. It is a fragment of an unpublished series of essays belonging to Haruki Murakami, the man from whom I take all my philosophies of life. The ellipses exclude a three-page description of a young woman’s breasts

Behind the scenes of Barnard’s mass staff layoffs.  By Natalie Buttner  Illustration by Derin Ogutcu The Barnard Class of 2029 arrived on a sunlit day at the end of August. RA’s paraded carts filled to the brim with clothes, books, and dorm furniture down the sidewalk. Guests donned bright wristbands as orientation leaders cheered them onto campus. Laura Rosenbury even graced the gates, making a swift pass through crowds of student workers and staff as they facilitated an emo

Media we think you would enjoy — but likely not as much as The Blue and White Magazine Maya Lerman , Editor-in-Chief: Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things . Playing Wridges on The Washington Post . Chris Brown , Managing Editor: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (Hulu). D’Angelo and the Vanguard, Black Messiah . Gritting those teeth. George Murphy , Deputy Editor: Naguib Mahfouz, Voices from the Other World. Guitarricadelafuente, Spanish Leather . Barry Lyndon (1975). Eli Baum , P

In the spring of 1970, on the steps of Low, Jean Genet spoke at a political rally to a mass of Columbia students, declaring his support for the Black Panther Party. In the crowd was Edward Said, whose account of the scene has been replaying in my mind as of late. Said describes a vivid contrast between Genet’s language in French and that of a student of his who stood beside him, gleefully translating into English: “Genet would say, for example, ‘The Blacks are the most oppres

On today’s agenda: Slate recap, upcoming college event plans, and notes on the meeting of two Presidents.  By Rocky Rūb Sunday’s meeting commenced with an eruption of applause for Ale Murat, CC ’27, VP of Campus Life, who executed the  event of the season: SLATE! As President Cano Cabrera, CC ’26, stated, her efforts are “really putting CCSC on the map.” But it seems that some were not as pleased with the team’s performance working the door at the club —if you can call it tha

As heard by The Blue & White. Illustration by Jiaying Geng After a brief hiatus, Blue & White  Campus Gossip is back with a vengeance.  … AND WHO LET THIS DOG OUT?  In an effort to rebuild trust with the student body, Public Safety has been spotted tabling outside of Lerner, proudly displaying a trench-coat-clad hounddog mascot. While the intent seems Sherlock Holmes-esque, this reporter can’t help but note that the execution lands closer to the neighborhood flasher in a furs

Traversing the horror of the domestic sphere.  By Caroline Nieto Illustration by Isabelle Oh Eleanor Johnson is a professor of English and Comparative Literature and the author of four books, the most recent of which, Scream With Me: Horror Films and The Rise of American Feminism , was published just last month, on September 30th. Throughout her time at Columbia, Johnson has taught about the earliest depictions of horror in popular literature, specifically in her course “Hist