We forgot NSOP was actually a thing, but the schedule for NSOP 2015 was released on Guidebook and we’re feeling all nostalgic for some reason. This year’s orientation is themed “You Are Here,” and includes many of our favorite NSOP programs such as Community Forum, Open Mic Night, and the Gender-Based Misconduct lectures! To access the official […]

“Come, [NSOP bracelet], you too must die. Why moan about it so? / Even Patroclus died, a far, far better man than you.” – Homer, The Iliad If we had done our Iliad reading when we were actually supposed to, maybe we could have found comfort in the wise words of Homer. Instead, we found this […]

For our young NSOP-ers, the academic year has already begun. Intrepid Iliad-er and  Feisty Freshperson Garrett Donnelly gives us his report of the first Lit Hum lecture. So we all walk into Roone Arledge Auditorium, each with our slightly dusty copies of The Iliad (thank God for the three-day weekend), to inaugurate our class’ entrance […]

NSOP is basically over except for the optional neighborhood tours (we’d recommend the dessert tour of NYC), but the fun will never stop. In case you’ve been living under a rock, or in Furnald—and check out this Furnald Tumblr, by the way—here’s what’s been going on. Send info or your desire to write about your experiences to tips@bwog.com. […]

It’s Friday, Friday, gotta wake up on Friday…Congrats freshpeople! You’ve survived most of NSOP so far and have only a few days left before those dreaded classes. But you’re probably excited for them to start anyway. As you prepare for NSOP weekend, remember to stock up on food, condoms and anything else you think you’ll […]

It’s that time of year again…you’ve got questions, we’ve got answers. Send ’em to tips@bwog.com. Dear Bwog,  I am a first year wondering if it is allowed to ship a mini-fridge to school. Also, is there only one fridge allowed in a dorm room? Thank you! – Hungry in Hamilton Dear Hungry, The answer to […]

Here’s an old favorite from NSOP 2006. Send your own first night stories to tips@bwog.com to inspire the freshlings. It’s your first day at Columbia. Mom and Dad just drove back to New Jersey, and you are ready to celebrate your newfound freedom. But wait. Shit! You’ve heard that Columbia is an awful party school. […]

Welcome, frosh! Today saw the slightly chaotic move-in of Barnard first-years as well as students not from New Jersey CC/SEAS international students and the farthest away domestic students. OLs greeted each car that pulled up to Carman with school-spirit-crazed cheers, Columbia didn’t card anybody for food bags and trays of hot dogs, and all was well. Freshmen: […]

Drumroll, please. Class of 2018, your newly-announced NSOP theme is “Reaching New Heights Together.” Today, Columbia issued the NSOP schedule for CC and SEAS, and here are Barnard’s and General Studies‘ if you missed them. Highlights: The collective Thursday night outing is the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum, which is on the USS Intrepid, “a decommissioned aircraft carrier on […]

Another semester, another season of ridiculous parties.  Here, a first-year student brings us back to a better time: NSOP.  If you want to tell Mama Bwog about a crazy party experience, email tips@bwog.com or use our anonymous tip form. As a wide-eyed freshman* first-year, I had no idea what to expect of my first night […]

In appreciation for its ancestral role in our own lineage, Bwog posts features from each new issue of The Blue and White (whose new website will launch next week!). You can look forward to a personal exploration of the Trans Narrative; a debunking of the Board of Trustees; and an interview with Ta-Neshi Coates. Snatch up […]

Bwog will again honor our heritage/amorous affair with our mother magazine, The Blue and White (on racks and “dormitories” near you NOW), by posting features from the upcoming issue. Such treats include a conversation with Ta-Nehisi Coates; a breakdown of the Board of Trustees; and a discussion of why college radio still matters. Below, staff writer Alexander Pines, CC […]

Freshmen dorms are now occupied, and the newest Columbians are — or should be — safe with their OL’s. Bwog interrupted a few of them along the way to ask about the best or worst pieces of advice they’ve gotten so far. Here’s what they had to say in the first Bwog Asked of the […]

Welcome (yet again), freshmen! Here’s hoping your first day was relatively trauma-free, and that you actually found a blue bin at some point in your journey. All Jersey/Westchester non-West Coast people, we’re looking forward to seeing you bright and early tomorrow morning. If you’re sitting anxiously in your newly postered JJ single right now, bursting […]

Ladies and gentlemen, time to wake up from your summer 2013 slumber: your newest NSOP theme has arrived! It is “Infinite Possibilities.”  Or, as an astute Bwogger put it, the prelude to the next four years at Columbia, “Infinite Responsibilities.” To elucidate this global/cosmic/galactic theme, the 2013 NSOP schedule book features a glittering Columbia campus […]