38 CommentsBarnard ladies were treated to much more than their daily Anna Quindlen dose today at the Diana’s ribbon-cutting ceremony: it rained berets! Each class was treated to a beret in their own class color. So some people got green berets, and other people got red berets, and alumni got knitted berets, because they are old! Hannah Goldstein noted that after the ribbon was cut, “Celebration” by Kool & The Gang started playing, and the crowed started nodding along in multi-colored beret-fitted splendor.
Some take-home messages from the speakers: The Big Kahuna Diana Vagelos herself called the building an “open and flexible” environment for students. I’ll say! Anna Quindlen called the Diana “beautiful and colorful, just like Barnard women.” SGA President Katie Pallilo expressed hope that “the Big Sub snakes its way through the lobby.” Bwogger Sam Schube was delighted to have an opportunity to step into the Diana Event Oval, where refreshments were served after the ceremony.
In the words of Marion Weiss, the building’s architect, the Diana’s atrium “should be a tease for people who want to know more, to come onto campus and not just into the building to find out more about Barnard.” Oh Diana!
Beret photos and more after the jump.
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- Women in berets are dangerous.
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- People watch the proceedings from a glass growth on the Vag.
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- Each class receieved a different color.
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- The “ribbon” is “cut” and things get “official.”
Photos by Rebecca Newman
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38 Comments
@Anonymous I’m a proud Barnard alumna and found this to be HILARIOUS! I will never forget exiting Barnard Hall on the day of the groundbreaking ceremony to see “VAGELOS” in sparkling swirling firecrackers. And with that, the nickname “The Vag” was adopted. Come on, Barnard administration — you were asking for it. You’d think such a wonderful institution would have more savvy people in charge!!!!
So yes, I adore the school that I am fortunate enough to call “mine” … and I also love the sense of humor of SOME of it’s students. Come on, girls — you stress out enough about EVERYTHING else. Have a laugh once in a while. Remember when Charlotte from Sex and the City had a depressed vagina? Well, maybe it hadn’t seen … THE VAG.
BC 2008
@Anonymous it’s a legitimate complaint
@Can't figure out whether this is a legitimate complaint or just wickedly dry satire on the part of a frequent Bwog commenter trying to sound like an offended Barnard girl.
@It seems to me... Your logic sucks.
@ugh not _meant_ to be logical, bro/sis.
@Anonymous wow. people need to chill out.
@it seems... …everything offends some majority or minority group somewhere, so we should all just become telepathic mutes to ensure maximum PCness.
@Barnard girls get a class gift pretty much every year or sometimes semester. The first year we got coffee mugs, the second year we got cans for water, this year we got bags and now we got berets.
i love barnard cuz they do things like that. and this class gift was actually really nice. i love my blue beret.
btw the colors are yellow – 2010.
blue – 2011
red – 2012
green – 2013 and they cycle every four years. so the next class 2014 will get yellow.
@V Frankly, this offends me as a Greek. None of these infinitely-wise Bwog posters learned how to pronounce a Gamma along the way? For shame.
This article just wasn’t funny. Sarah Besnoff made the Va-Jay-Jays joke in her senior wisdom and it can not be topped. Don’t make me Oddjob you with my beret for your efforts.
@Jesus Christ Just because we like immature humor doesn’t mean we’re misogynist sexist fuckers. Good for the rich alumni that donate to the school. Good for the people who make a difference in the world. But it doesn’t have to be 100% serious all the time. The building’s already built! Barnard will still be creating strong independent women. Some of these women will have a sense of humor about sex!
Does calling Butler Library “The Butt” demean our Jew-hating former president? Or demean the student body? Or create a hostile environment towards gay people? No!
And besides, how can you not resist making easy jokes about the plainly obvious? The inside is all red and orange! Come on!
@clearly you've never seen one... but are vaginas red and orange? those colors don’t exactly lend themselves to ‘vag’ jokes. although maybe my inferior barnard education and vagina-ownership would make me less of an authority on that front.
@After the previous comment, VagLover4Eva,
that was brilliant.
@I'mAGirlTooAnd I don’t think being all butthurt about a mildly amusing BWOG article is the way to advance feminist causes. Just saying.
@VagLover4Eva Diana Vagelos is an amazing alum who gave the largest gift in Barnard’s history so that we could have a new student center that would meet a great need on campus. Her last name is Vagelos. We have a Vagelos Alumnae Center, the old student center was nicknamed the Vag, and now we have the Diana. So what? What is so clever? She’s a great person with a last name that can be shortened to sound like a dirty word. Really, it’s not that creative and it’s disrespectful.
Although the gender and sexual preferences of this article’s author are unclear, it is painfully clear that the author (and most people in the comments section) needs to spend more time either 1) enjoying a woman’s vagina instead of making tired attempts at being snarky for the BWOG, 2) off of the computer and showing her own vagina some love, or, at the very least 3) appreciating that they came into this world through a vagina and giving his or her mom a call.
Yes, Barnard is a women’s college. That means we all have vaginas. We love our vaginas, we love Diana Vagelos, and we love our new student center. I hope that Diana Vagelos does not ever see this story, but if she does, I hope that she reads the comments and sees that, while some members of the Columbia/Barnard community (who clearly have some vagina issues) can’t see beyond her last name, the overwhelming majority of us are able to see her beauty and inspiring generosity. Alums like Diana Vagelos make me proud to be a Barnard woman.
So get off BWOG and show a vagina some love.
@Thomas I have to agree with the last comment. I’ll admit that I found the
whole “Vag” coincidence comical at first but at this point I’m assuming that we’re all semi-mature and that we can find things to report on
that more material to such an event than stupid puns. This bwogger
should not be given the means to waste everyone’s time and spew such
garbage.
@Thomas I have to agree with the last comment. I’ll admit that I found the whole “Vag” coincidence comical at first but at this point I’m assuming that we’re all semi-mature and that we can find things to report on that more material to such an event than stupid puns. This bwogger should not be given the means to waste everyone’s time and spew such garbage.
@Anonymous PREACH ON SISTER
@After the previous comment, I decided to write my own. I saw the article, found it tasteless and offensive. I can’t brush it off.
I couldn’t agree more with what was said, and think that a couple of his/her points need to be elaborated upon.
It is extremely offensive, and should be questioned by BWOG. I feel that it should not have been published in the first place- but now that it has, let’s learn from it. I’m sure that the author of this article did not realize the extent of his/her language. Yes, free speech is necessary. But when a piece such as this (that shows no sign of an edit or second thought) is published on a popular student forum, its language does not just misrepresent an event.
Title, tag lines, content and captions included…
It continues to spread outdated viewpoints about women in general (Columbia University, I know you all are smarter than this), and especially in this instance, the Barnard/Columbia relationship.
It seethes a demeaning attitude and makes crude innuendos about the donor’s last name. [She donated a huge sum of money for a great cause at her alma mater and it is not fair to keep on beating a dead horse by butchering her name and then laughing about it.]
It misrepresents the opinion of hundreds of Columbia college students who study with, work next to, and are friends with hundreds of Barnard college students. The colleges both belong to Columbia University. Albeit in different and oftentimes confusing ways.
If this is an “article”, it does not report anything substantial or factual about the event that occurred. For instance, there were lectures taking place at the Diana all day that showcased successful women. One spearheaded a massive, successful, and creative human rights campaign to work to make a dent in domestic violence statistics. Another threw a paintbrush into hands of graffiti artists and gave them jobs and their cities beautiful art in return that helped make neighborhoods safer and give people much needed hope. Women who are working to rebuild credibility on Wall Street and further our nations and the world’s markets. Women who go to work in emergency rooms, work for life and see death everyday. Women, who are proud to be a part of Barnard, an incredible undergraduate institution and empowering undergraduate experience for thousands of university students with the energy and mind to try to create positive, lasting change in a world that can be so screwed up.
What is also extremely unfortunate is that this article negatively affects the credibility of the other writers in this forum. Many who probably feel that this article was vapid and remiss. Bloggers are dealing with a new medium and it’s a very cool one. There is so much to be explored. Student publications such as BWOG have a bigger purpose than just being the webpage that’s up on everyone’s computer at that 9 am lecture that has funny pictures, smart opinion pieces, and coverage of interesting and thought provoking lectures on campus.
It is ( yes a small part but nonetheless, an important one) helping to define what blogging is. It is part of a new era.
Years from now when BWOG writers are looking back at the archives, do you want them to see a piece like this? How about a prospective student who is thinking about applying to Columbia or Barnard? What about the girl on the only computer in a 10 mile radius who is researching college in her world which probably has deemed it unthinkable? How about other student publications at other universities that are looking for what a successful blog looks like?
It’s ok. We make mistakes. Sometimes, we don’t realize what comes off when we say things- it’s a part of life, especially the everyday life of a college student. It is an immense privilege to be such a college student, to attend Barnard, Columbia, GS, SEAS, or any of the undergraduate colleges at Columbia. Think about it. This is not just a fun student publication. It has potential, the mind power, the people, to be an incredible accurate voice of the student populace in blogging form.
Blogging is an experiment in a new social medium. Yet, it does not have to be so brash. The most talented writers and the funniest people don’t have to try to be funny. They just are. That’s their talent.
Is this yours?
@Anonymous excuse me, as a barnard student, a woman and a human being who has respect for other human beings on this planet, i find this article grossly offensive and, frankly, disgusting. Bwog, you should be ashamed of yourselves. I would much rather be a part of the Diana celebration, berets and all, than associate myself with anyone who could be this crude, discriminatory and all around hateful. To think that you are Ivy League students who are supposed to be our country’s top achievers is absolutely horrifying. Put those tuition dollars to work and concentrate on actually doing something constructive rather than tearing others down. Sickening…
@b-nard lady …what exactly do you find “discriminatory” and “hateful”? how is this article “tearing others down”? cuz i don’t see it.
i do, however, see some snarky puns arising from a rather unfortunate naming coincidence…hee hee…
@Anonymous it’s clearly mocking barnard students and women in general! “women in berets are dangerous”? the continuous and immature puns via the “vag” joke (which, by the way is not that funny anymore). “open & flexible” environment for students….obviously capitalizing on the fact that its “the vag” and a women’s college (OMG LOL, seriously how old are we? It’s not even called the Vag its the Diana!)
“barnard ladies got more than their daily Anna Quindlen dose”…
im just sick of the all the Barnard bashing that bwog does. enough already
@Anonymous as a barnard student, i have absolutely no problem with this article. no need to take yourselves too seriously, kids.
@... interesting this was posted february 7th.
@is this cuz engineering got scarves?
what next.. will cc get capes?
@Anonymous I WANT A CAPE
@Caped Crusader Capes for CC!
@No Capes I want Crêpes!
@David When the automatic doors close, the Vag is doing kegels.
@Anonymous beret
@CC and hatless First SEAS gets beanies and now this?! Outrageous!
@You Forget, SEAS Seniors got 4 ties or 4 scarves which would normally retail for $65 each… mmmhmmm Feni loves us.
@... agreed! I would like some form of head wear associated Columbia memorabilia. Kings crowns!!
@colt 45 am i the only one who thinks that building looks incredibly cheap?
@mmm... yes, probably
@IHateBioLabBecauseItInterferesWithGettingBerets All I have ever wanted in my life was a beret. But no. There were out.
@Anonymous sameeeee
@omg hilarious
@the vag is nothing if not a tease… but don’t be fooled by its wiley tricks fellow sons of alma – entering the vag is a slippery slope