Quintessential works from a graduating senior. By Cecilia Zuniga Illustration by Ines Alto Why do you think there are no men enrolled in this class? It is a Thursday at 10:10 a.m., and my professor splays this question across on the board as our weekly writing prompt. The class, titled Crime, Race, Sex, and the Politics of Purity, is a graduate level seminar in Barnard’s American Studies department. My classmates trickle into the room, each one pausing in the doorway to rea

By The Class of 2026 Illustration by Em Bennett John Jay Evan Rossi Columbia’s campus is filled with symbols. There are the obvious ones—Alma Mater, Scholar’s Lion, the Crown—and the ones whose meanings need to be teased out. For this senior vignette, I was tempted to find a campus location that would neatly encapsulate these particular four years. I began to take images from daily life and consider what symbols they could become. I thought about transience as I walked across

A look into WKCR’s archives and towards 89.9 FM’s anti-carceral potential. By Cecilia Zuniga Illustration by Em Bennett Tip-toed on a jail cell toilet, Jose Hernandez Velasquez stood feet above the ground in search of 89.9 FM’s signal. His hands, grasping a battery-powered radio, reached towards the window. Two minutes before 9 p.m., he struck the perfect angle, and WKCR’s broadcast began to play. Velasquez didn’t dare to move. For an hour, he remained outstretched in the sa

The Encampments film and the dangers of the past tense. By Cecilia Zuniga Illustration by Etta Lund I am standing at the edge of...

Indulging in Ben & Jerry’s. By Cecilia Zuniga Illustration by Jorja Garcia I rushed into my final closing shift at the Ben & Jerry’s on...

Barnard’s reckoning with what it means to be “well” this semester. By Cecilia Zuniga On the first floor of Barnard Hall, the Francine A....