2007

From WikiCU

2007 in Columbia history:

[edit] Spring

• Anti-copyright advocacy group Free Culture at Columbia founded
• Reactivation of Students for a Democratic Society

[edit] February

• Matt Sanchez exposed as a former porn star

[edit] March

• 5th: Investigation launched regarding threat left on door of CC Class of 2010 president Mark Modesitt
• 5th: "Speakergate": Matthew Fox announced as the keynote speaker for Columbia College's Class Day; furor ensues
• Michelle Diamond of the One Columbia party wins the Presidency of the CCSC
• Elton John rents St. John the Divine for his 60th birthday party
• Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak is named a University Professor
• Both the men's and women's fencing teams are Ivy League champions
• First issue of Eclectica Esoterica published

[edit] April

• Financial Aid officer David Charlow accused of accepting kickbacks from a student loan company, suspended
• 40s on 40 institutionalized as lame, tame "40 Days" by the administration; seniors furious again
• 9: Intensifying the CUSJ-Jester Feud, 700 stolen copies of Jester are distributed around campus with an attached note allegedly from Columbia Undergraduate Science Journal claiming responsibility as retribution against Jester for "promot[ing] scientific fallacies".
• Spec launches The Shaft, a housing blog, after being beaten at housing coverage by The Bwog in 2006
• 11: John Kluge gives $400 million for financial aid, the largest gift in Columbia history

[edit] May

• 4: First year students take their Lit Hum final exam using an unauthorized study guide leaked by a section leader, prompting an optional second final exam

[edit] Summer

• May: The Journal of Politics & Society, published by Helvidius, becomes the nation's first commercially distributed undergraduate periodical in over 350 Barnes & Noble bookstores See Columbia News Feature

• June: With the demolition of McIntosh, construction begins on Barnard's new Nexus student center

[edit] Fall

Throughout the Fall 2007 semester, a series of racist bias incidents have caused outrage and concern on campus.

[edit] September

• 24 - After a cancelled engagement in 2006, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made a controversial appearance as part of the World Leaders Forum.

[edit] October

• 9 - A noose is found hanging on a Teachers College professor's office door

[edit] November

• 7 - Beginning of the 2007 multi-purpose hunger strike
• 12 - 14 - Faculty groups pen public letters debating the efficacy of the administration, particularly the policies of President Bollinger
• 14: Hunger strikers' demands partially met; strike continues
• November 17: Hunger strike ends

[edit] December

• The Gary C. Comer Geochemistry Building opens