On December 4, students and alumni gathered on College Walk for the annual Columbia Tree Lighting Ceremony. The festive event celebrates tradition, the holiday spirit and the Columbia College community, bringing alumni, friends, students and families together at the center of campus.

This year the Tree Lighting Ceremony was followed by a Winter Celebration in Low Library. More than 150 alumni, students and friends turned out for holiday treats, an ugly sweater contest, a capella performances from the Columbia Kingsmen and Pizmon and games like spin the dreidel, reindeer ring toss, pin the Santa hat on Roaree and holiday bingo.

Columbia College Student Ambassadors president Jackson Tse gave remarks welcoming everyone to the event, and Roaree kept the crowd in good spirits while snowflake projections decorated the walls, bringing the holiday spirit inside Low.

The event also took on a political spin this year, as more than 200 students of color laid down on College Walk to stage a protest against the Staten Island grand jury decision on December 3 to not indict a police officer who killed Staten Island resident Eric Garner.