Summer 2026 Letter from the Editor

It’s a great summer to be in the city of New York. Specifically, it is a great summer for sports. Lifelong fans and recent converts alike held their breath (bit their nails, clenched their rectums) as they watched the Knicks take the lead in the fourth quarter of Game 5 of the NBA Championship, bringing the national title to NYC for the first time in over half a century. And while the blue-and-orange ticker tape was being swept from the streets, the city turned its attention to the World Cup. Much of the tournament is being played just outside the city. Even for those without patriotism, the viewing experience is elevated by having a team to root for.  Each day’s schedule can be determined by the jerseys crowded onto the subway. 

During the semester, many words and much thought is wasted amongst the Columbia population on issues of authenticity. Who is a Columbia student? Do Barnard students count? Who is a New Yorker? Is 10 years in the city enough to qualify anymore? 

Summer provides an opportunity for us to be something other than students. We try on a new identity, or return to who we were before we were University affiliates. Issues of authenticity reconfigure themselves but remain. Does this suit make me look like I work on Wall Street? Am I still a local in the place I grew up? Could I do this job for the rest of my life? Am I really a chemist, or just someone with a propensity for cleaning beakers? 

As for the World Cup, most Estadounidenses are just now waking up to the fact that the most popular sport on the planet might have something going for it. During our lunch-break, I watch a fellow intern scroll through the World Cup qualifying list to select and announce the countries that she will be rooting for, tastefully distributed across the continents. For those who have been alert to international soccer since they became alert, there is only vindication in watching the city transform. Together, we all coagulate around the nearest establishment with a television.

As I enjoy my last summer in-between semesters, I am approaching it like a new fan. Summer authenticity is born from enthusiasm. It feels good to embrace things even if they are new and will be short-lived. 

The Blue and White’s summer issue is also a short foray into a different form. Our summer issue is brief, but a refreshing vacation from the conventions that have come to define our publication. Free to write about anything they please, our writers describe scenes beyond the Columbia campus. This summer’s cover by Nini Vilac BC ’28, breaking from the confines of a duotone color palette, captures the joy and intensity of being collectively consumed by such a potent distraction. In a summer dominated by athletics, Blue and White Managing Editor Duda Kovarsky Rotta tries her feet at America’s most reluctantly embraced pastime: running for fitness. Our wildlife correspondent, David Kramer, writes a letter to the snail community. Selma White-Pascual paints a portrait of Columbia’s very own Jay Gatsby. Our annual ‘Summer Postcards’ section includes pithy dispatches from Blue and White writers scattered across the country. As we reach the halftime of our summer, please enjoy this issue, 

lovingly compiled by, 

Natalie K. Buttner 

Editor-in-Chief