Piazza may randomly assign anonymous icons to students, but there is only one true icon that captures the students of each undergraduate school.

Note: These are just my opinions meant in good fun —feel free to disagree or give alternative suggestions in the comments.

SEAS: Anonymous Poet 

Now, I know what you’re thinking—SEAS and poetry aren’t often associated with one another! But you know what? I believe there are SEAS students so talented, they enjoy humanities and excel in STEM. Here’s a nod to you! The presence of Anonymous Poets on a Piazza board (which is typically used for STEM courses) parallels the Core being a requirement for SEAS students. Humanities and STEM can coexist and even work in tandem! Taking a page right from the Columbia website, SEAS students are taught to “become an engineer for humanity.” Need any more convincing?

Anonymous Poets are also pretty rare on the Piazza board. Having a curriculum that involves engineering classes and Core classes means SEAS students ~always~ have work to do. (Problem sets, anyone?) Therefore, the sighting of a SEAS student is pretty, pretty, pretty rare…ouch.  

BC: Anonymous Gear

Gears, even anonymous ones, work together in unison. Since Barnard students deliberately decide to attend a historically women’s college, many are like-minded (see: “The Barnard Chop”) and strong. After all, they are all majoring in unafraid™. Seeing as Barnard students maintain similar beliefs, they, like gears, support and uplift one another. 

Additionally, Piazza’s decision to portray three gears in the icon image yet refer to the icon as a singular, “Anonymous Gear” implies that all three parts are needed to create one working gear. This mindset parallels Barnard’s belief a complete Barnard student boasts three attributes: they are bold, beautiful, and Barnard—whatever that may mean. 

Finally, gears sometimes need oil to run effectively just like Barnard students sometimes need an oat milk chai to…function. 

GS: Anonymous Helix

To me, the Anonymous Helix represents a paradox: how can something so ubiquitous on Piazza be so unique? DNA is what comes to mind when I think of a helix. Given Piazza’s prevalence in STEM courses, I think it is safe to assume that Piazza wanted to label the helix icon as “DNA,” but “Anonymous DNA” is borderline oxymoronic, so they probably just settled on “helix.”

After having put myself in the shoes of a Piazza worker, I will now explain why GS is the Anonymous Helix. GS represents a nontraditional pathway to a college education. Each student attends GS for unique reasons and seeks a particular path of study, paralleling DNA: everyone’s DNA is their own! According to a study completed by my own memory just now, Anonymous Helices are all over the Piazza board. Their consistent appearance on the site mirrors the presence of GS students in classes and on-campus; despite an unconventional college pathway, GS students are just like any other undergraduate student at Columbia—maybe even cooler.

Finally, the spiral shape of a helix further replicates a GS student’s nontraditional course of action as there is no straightforward path but twists and turns.  

CC: Anonymous Comp  

The father of the computer, Charles Babbage (who obviously did not live in anonymity), is an English man. Columbia College was founded by the Church of England and was known as “King’s College,” making it originally British—just like the computer. 

But, wait! There’s more. Piazza’s decision to abbreviate “computer” into “comp” for efficiency purposes, mirrors CC’s speediness. Students are constantly rushing from class to class, from library to library, with their five-classes-per-semester aspirations and desires to exceed the credit limit each and every semester. CC students are also always loudly typing away in the library, planning their busy schedule on their gCal, and applying to finance internships—none of which is possible without a comp(uter). 

omg! it’s an actual piazza via Flickr