Nicholas Dirks, the Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Sciences, has resigned to become chancellor (that’s California for “president”) of UC-Berkeley. Dirks is a celebrated anthropology professor who left UMichigan for Columbia in 1997 to overhaul our anthropology department. A few years later, Prezbo arrived at Columbia from UMichigan and asked Dirks to join […]

Once Dean of Columbia College, Prof. Michelle Moody-Adams, has a new commentary piece in The Chronicle of Higher Education wherein she suggests a new vision for supporting educational opportunities in underserved segments of society. Interestingly, MMA criticizes the traditional approach to affirmative action as fundamentally flawed: It has sometimes been argued that affirmative action would have […]

The school year might be over as far as final exams and cat-naps in Butler go, but as we learned last summer, there’s never a dull moment for the admin. As SEAS seniors and their Dean get ready to tear up South Lawn, their student council remind us that there’s more to the story, with […]

Last Wednesday, Bwog got the chance to sit down with Deantini to talk about the McKinsey report, financial aid, admissions policy, and a bunch of other things College-related. McKinsey Report: We first asked Deantini how he felt about Spec’s publishing of an executive summary of the McKinsey report. To our surprise, he said he was […]

In the beginning was the McKinsey report, and the McKinsey report was a BFD. Last week, we broke down the”who” “when” and “why” parts—now we bring you the “what.” After squinting at all 12 badly rendered slides for 10+ minutes, consulting tons of super important experts, and figuring out how to copy and paste from […]

Earlier this morning, The Eye published an article about shakeups in the upper echelons of the Columbia administration. The piece contained a couple of new nuggets in this seemingly never-ending story—including a summary of the infamous McKinsey report and changes to financial aid—but it can be difficult to keep track of everything that’s happened since […]

As he does from time to time, last night PrezBo opened the doors to his grandiose abode on Morningside Drive to a number of students and administrators for the latest in his Rooseveltian series of fireside chats. A pair of Bwog editors were in attendance, and positioned themselves on a soft couch to listen in on the night’s […]

Our very own former editrix Eliza Shapiro has a story in Capital New York today about Columbia’s recent troubles, the long standing battle between the College and the University, and the particular existential dread of academia. The article is part of an ongoing reporting project with Bwog-friends Claire Sabel, Mark Hay, Sam Schube, Sarah Ngu […]

Our dear university, hit hard by the recession, has been searching for ways to cut expenses. With assistance from consulting firm McKinsey, they’ve been weighing their options, some of which so upset Michele Moody-Adams that (have you heard?) she resigned as Dean of the Columbia College. While these recommendations have not been made public—and perhaps shall […]

To further his ongoing efforts to reach out to students and increase transparency in the wake of Moodygate, interim Dean Valentini held a town hall last night. Deantini held the court in the oaken glory of Havemeyer 309, where he’s given countless lectures and even once had one burst out in song. Seasoned Town Haller Conor Skelding sat in. Over […]

Hey you! We know procrastinating on Bwog is fun and all, but some things are more important. Like, you know, meeting your dean (chatting with him via Bwog comments, while awesome, isn’t quite the same). Scurry over to Havemeyer 309 at 8 pm, and check out a moderated Q&A with the newly-monikered Deantini. Audience members will […]

Last week, Bwog sat down with newly-minted Dean Valentini (soon to be Deantini). The Dean has been in touch with Bwog and Spec since his appointment, but in earlier interviews was unable to answer burning questions (he too needed some orientation). What was Dean Moody-Adams so livid about? Given that her resignation letter focused on […]

As promised, Columbia College’s interim dean, James Valentini, just released a video to the Columbia community. For about ten minutes, he explains why he is dean, his vision for the College, his bit part in this Prangstgrüp video, and how he cringes at some parts of Bwog (don’t worry, we do too). Valentini assures us […]

Definitely Not A couple with poor timing reportedly attempted to enter the mile high club on 9/11. The couple’s prolonged absence from their seats prompted an emergency landing and arrest by a team of SWAT officers. (Gothamist) According to a riveting profile on a turnstyle-jumping youth, shirking your subway fee is the first step towards […]

CCSC met formally for the first time of the year. Seasoned student council buff Brian Wagner and our newest addition to the bureau, Maren Killackey, CC’15, were there to smile and wave politely. The new student council, led by President Aki Terasaki, introduced themselves to each other and onlookers. To get to know each other […]