Earlier this month, a new publication hit Columbia's campus.  Columbia Class Notes, a student-run publication on academic affairs at Columbia, published its first edition on March 19, 2012.  The journal aims to provide an open forum for students, faculty, and administrators to constructively discuss undergraduate education at Columbia. 

According to Sam Gelb CC’13, a member of the journal’s editorial board, the idea for Class Notes originated when he and Aaron Liskov CC '11 and Sam Rhee, CC '13 wanted a new forum for influencing teaching at Columbia. Gelb and Liskov knew each other from high school and they met Rhee his freshman year. “Each of us had our own particular set of changes that we wanted to present to the University, but lacked a concrete, non-partisan forum through which we could communicate and discuss ways to improve the Columbia experience. In order to fill this gap, we created Class Notes with the intent of making the conversation about improving education at Columbia more public, more substantive, and more accessible,” Gelb said.

Class Notes is accessible at http://columbiaclassnotes.wordpress.com/ and is available in hard copy in Lerner Hall, Hamilton Hall, and the Diana Center.

Emily Tamkin ’12 and Cristian Gonzalez ’10 will study in Germany next year as Fulbright Scholarship winners. Tamkin plans to research Soviet-era legal dissident projects at the University of Bremen’s Research Centre for East European Studies in Bremen. She also plans to go to law school and says the project will merge her interests in law, journalism and the Soviet era. According to the Fulbright website, the grants are designed to “increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries” by funding research and by teaching and academic study abroad. Columbia led the Ivy League with 30 Fulbright recipients between 2006 and 2011.  Click here to read more about the winners and the awards in the Spectator.

On March 7, five accomplished alumni were presented with 2012 John Jay Awards for distinguished professional achievement at the John Jay Awards Dinner, an annual black-tie event, held this year at Cipriani 42nd Street.

View photos from the dinner.

The honorees were Dede Gardner ’90, Ellen Gustafson ’02, Ben Horowitz ’88, Daniel S. Loeb ’83 and Li Lu ’96, ’96L, ’96 Business. Read more about the honorees.

(Left to right) Interim Dean James J. Valentini; Ellen Gustafson ’02; Daniel S. Loeb ’83; Ben Horowitz ’88; Dede Gardner ’90; Li Lu ’96, ’96L, ’96 Business; and President Lee. C. Bollinger. PHOTO: EILEEN BARROSO Proceeds from the dinner benefit the John Jay National Scholars Program, which aims to enhance academic and extracurricular experiences for outstanding first-year College students. John Jay Scholars are invited to participate in panels, discussions and outings. This year’s dinner raised $1.1 million, as announced at the start of the dinner by University Trustees Chair William V. Campbell ’62.

Columbia College Alumni Association President Kyra Tirana Barry ’87 welcomed the attendees and especially welcomed John Jay honorees from prior years. She introduced Yusaf Ahmad ’12, a John Jay Scholar who spoke on behalf of all scholars. Interim Dean James J. Valentini also addressed the group of almost 500 alumni, guests, faculty and students, noting how proud he was to “have people of such distinction with us tonight.” President Lee C. Bollinger spoke briefly as well, announcing that the seventh Global Center will be opening, in Santiago.

Each of the honorees addressed the group, all touching on what Columbia had meant to them and how grateful they are for the education they received, which enabled them to be successful and to give back to the world.

The event, which concluded with a medley of Sans Souci and Roar, Lion, Roar performed by the Clefhangers, is named for founding father and first secretary of the treasury John Jay (Class of 1764). The John Jay Awards have been presented annually since 1979.