John W. Kluge, CC ’37 and a major donor to the University, passed away today. Kluge came to Columbia on scholarship after leaving Germany for America at the age of 16. He went on to become a billionaire primarily in the telecom and media industries. Over his lifetime he made several gifts to Columbia acknowledging […]

CC’10 Salutatorian and baller fencer Jeff Spear has been named the Academic All-American of the year by ESPN. B&W alum Marc Tracy talks to B-Baller Bruce Robbins about the sacredness (and Jewishness!) of Ulysses. More for Joyce-devotees and regular people: Tablet is hosting a Bloomsday celebration next Wednesday. Six CU alumni and faculty pwned The […]

Right now, smack-dab in the middle of the Times’ front page, there’s a feature by film reviewer A.O. Scott on actress Greta Gerwig, who graduated from Barnard in 2006. Ms. Gerwig is currently co-starring in the movie “Greenberg” opposite Ben Stiller, but has also appeared in the feature films “Kicking and Screaming” and “The Squid […]

Over the weekend, the Los Angeles Times covered former Dems president and current White House staffer Josh Lipsky, CC ’08, and his trip to Buchenwald as part of Obama’s team. Lipsky, who worked on Obama’s advance team during the campaign, did not volunteer just to get out of the Visitor’s Office; rather, he wanted to […]

 – Image via The Associated Press A commenter alerted Bwog earlier tonight to the plight of UN official and CC and SIPA graduate John Solecki, who is being held hostage in Pakistan. Solecki, the head of U.N.’s refugee office in Quetta, Pakistan, was captured on February 2nd. On Monday, his captors said Solecki would be […]

Attorney General Michael Mukasey, CC ’63 (who taught at the law school as recently as 2006) collapsed last night during a speech in Washington D.C. Towards the end of an address to the Federalist Society, Mukasey began to slur his speech before he collapsed. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where press reports say […]

Coming soon to 113th Street: McVickar hall, another space for alumni to network…but this time with undergrads! Just five short years until the 6th and 7th graders at Columbia’s Secondary School can get a taste of the big kid Core  The headline “Stale Castlevania Goes Eclectic in Order of Ecclesia” exists, heralds in a new […]

Remember American hero and proud Business School alum (’97) Roy Den Hollander? The self-described antifeminist who sued Columbia for failing to offer a “men’s studies” course? Whatever, anyway, he’s back! And he’s suing mad, specifically about ladies’ nights at bars because what else? This month, Hollander is arguing that when nightclubs offer all the ladies […]

Freshmen are probably noticing that NSOP slows down the pace of events quite a bit as it moves into the weekend. Bwog thought it would slow things down as well and bring you a round-up of Columbians in the news. We know it’s not all national or internation news, but not all of us can be presidential […]

Hey jobless alumni, why so glum? With your Columbia degree, the world is at your fingertips: first phone sex operating (“executive stress relief”), and now digital entrepreneurship. Bwog caught up with Kareem Shaya, former Fed editor-in-chief and inventor of famous website Send Barack Your Baby, which lately has gotten all sorts of attention from the […]

The New York Times is reporting that the J-School received a 5 million-dollar gift today from one Mr. Leonard Tow, a Columbia grad whom the Times identifies as “a former chief executive of Citizens Communications, and Century Communications” as well as a philanthropist — and how! Tow is hoping that his $5 million will aid […]

If you’ve been a little sour on dear Alma Mater lately, an anonymous Bwog informant has just stumbled upon something to restore your faith in your degree and your Columbia. This gal’s a CU grad — just like many of you! (Go Lions!) She majored in Anthropology. And also like many of you, she loves […]

Bwog daily editor Mariela Quintana takes you inside yet another ’68 retrospective, this time a reading featuring Columbia writers who were there when the protests happened. Of the four events I’ve attended that commemorate the 1968 protests, not one has started on time. From all the socializing and incessant chattering that precedes each lecture, it’s […]

A curious mention of a Columbia “alum” in the news today in the form of a police report. High school dropout and apparent puppy enthusiast Esther Reed stole the identity of a missing South Carolina woman named Brooke Henson. Using Henson’s name and personal information, Reed took her SATs and GED and gained entrance to […]

Hats off to childrens author Jon Scieszka (interviewed by Bwog here), MFA ’80, who has been named the first national ambassador of young people’s literature! Apparently it’s like a poet laureate for kids. Mr. Scieszka, as lifelong Stinky Cheese Man fans, you are an alumnus who makes Bwog proud. And a kick in the shins […]