Former GSSC VP for Campus Life has some words to share!

Name, School, Major, Hometown: My name is Cole Wagner, I am at the School of General Studies; my major is the History and Theory of Architecture with a concentration in Medieval and Renaissance Studies (I wanted the longest possible major name), and I am from South Salem, New York. 

Claim to fame: My claim to fame is that I am the General Studies lounge creature/thing/meme. I have spent more time in the GS lounge than a lot of people spend at this university. I have slept in the lounge, I have gotten drunk in the lounge, – no sex – I have worked and wasted time, (mostly the latter) but most importantly I have met a really great community of people here – the best around. I have also served as GSSC’s Vice President of Campus Life for the past academic year, and have been very involved in orientation programming for the past 8 NSOPs. Also, I am your guy for cathedral facts and for when you want to go listen to sacred Japanese court music from the 11th century. 

Where are you going? I am still working on where I am going, but I am probably off to London next year with my fiancé to do a masters program in sustainable historical building redevelopment. After that I will be back in the city for her coming back to campus to attend Columbia Law School, and I’ll hang out and mooch some food from something. You’re not getting rid of me for long!

What are 3 things you learned at Columbia and would like to share with the Class of 2026? I have learned a great many things at Columbia, but the three most important ones I would say are:

  1. Remember to keep a life going outside of your homework and studies. It will keep you sane; you will be in a better place mentally to actually do your work. Additionally, your friends will almost certainly be able to help you once they hear about what’s going on, and your work will be better for that as well.
  1. Do as I didn’t to a certain degree and spend time wandering around the libraries. There are so many interesting things to find in there that you won’t be able to access unless you just come across it.
  1. Get research positions. Talk to professors and ask what you can do, even outside of the organizational structures of the departments. It builds great relationships with people who can help you in the future, and you learn so much more about how to achieve things from doing actual work in your field instead of just cranking out assignments. .

“Back in my day…”  the lounge was truly a place for procrastination and nonsense of the highest order. People had wrestling matches, shouting matches, and it generally was a space of ridiculous entertainment. The volume level was off the charts. Covid killed this, unfortunately, and it’s been a slow climb back. I’m amazingly proud of the GSSC this year for doing everything that they did to bring some semblance of the old fun, and I am sure this will keep going into the future. 

Favorite Columbia controversy? When the marching band was banned from the library so they hid their instruments ahead of time, locked the doors of Butler 209, and performed anyway.

What was your favorite class at Columbia? Again, I cannot outright state a single favourite, because I have had too many great courses, but I have to highlight Introduction to Design and Visual Culture with Richard Todd Rouhe as an absolutely fantastic course. Todd is a great instructor with a fantastic sense of humour, (not something that can be said about every professor), and the assignments are interesting, challenging, and entertaining. The other professor I have to recommend (even though he is on leave next year) is Barry Bergdoll. He taught me not just about the history of buildings but how to write about the history of buildings; I wish I had been able to take classes with him earlier. 

Would you rather give up oral sex or cheese? I would give up oral sex without question. I need cheese on a fundamental level.

Whom would you like to thank? The list is entirely too long. When I was a commuting student the GS community really came together to support me in a number of ways; I couchsurfed on so many peoples sofas so often and so regularly they should have charged me rent. I also have to thank the people who I worked with on student government this year and the year before. So many people worked so hard to achieve a lot of great things for this community and it really was my honor to be a part of the group with them. Finally, I think there are four figures who really made a difference for me in the administration of GS. Firstly, Sean Trulby worked so hard this year to make some seriously amazing things happen on an incredibly tight turnaround and doing the jobs of multiple people. He deserves every GS’ers thanks. Second, Daniel Rodriguez in the Financial Aid department is the unsung hero of GS. Dan is truly the man – he made education happen and be possible for both me and for so many students when we did not know how to make the money work. He always put in the extra mile and effort to solve my issues and make sure people could get an education. Thirdly, Glenn Novarr on the advising team is an incredible and wise individual who I need to listen to more. You will always get a truly interesting conversation when you go to talk to him and he is not afraid to give you an unvarnished opinion that won’t be something you thought of before. Finally, there are two more individuals who I must thank on a very personal level. The first is my fiancé, Safia; you are absolutely stunning and the love of my life. You have given me so much on so many different levels and I cannot express how grateful I am for you. Second, I want to thank Peter Awn, the late Dean of GS, for building a truly unique school for both me and so many other people to attend. Without his vision, skill, and the deeply personal connections he built with every student he met, of which I count myself incredibly lucky to be one, I would not be who I am today. May I be forever in your debt. 

One thing to do before graduating: Jeez, I really don’t know. If you’re not from the city, get out into it now before you leave. There’s a lot to do here! On campus; again, just go prowl around the libraries. they’re cool and fun and you’ll never know what you find!

Any regrets? Regrets, I’ve had a few; but then again, too few to mention….Like I mentioned before, I wish I’d done more real research earlier. I tried to write a thesis and it didn’t work out in large part because I hadn’t really developed those kinds of skills before jumping into the deep end. Also, a consequence of my commuting meant that for the first couple of years I was not able to actually engage in on campus activities or clubs to a large degree – I wish I’d been able to do more in that regard. Overall though, I feel like while hindsight is 20/20, making these mistakes here and knowing what they were is a good part of my college experience as well; I feel motivated to find a way to fulfill what I missed out on doing here, and also now know what to avoid/make a better choice about out in the world when I’m doing whatever it is that comes next!

Portrait via Cole