The Columbia Chronicle • 20th February 2024

Pinksqueeze celebrates queer, femme fun through music

Logan used to be a pastor. Now, they’re a drummer for the queer rock band Pinksqueeze. For Logan, discovering new music was key to their coming out.

“I came out a little later in life; I actually used to be a pastor,” Logan said. “I was 27 when I came out, and right before that, I had started listening to this album by a band called The Aces, it was called ‘When My Heart Felt Volcanic,’ and all of the words in the songs were very obviously gay, and kind of in your face about it.”

Logan explain

The Columbia Chronicle • 9th February 2024

College to increase tuition 5% next school year

The college is raising tuition 5% for the second year in a row in an attempt to address a growing financial crisis.

Full-time tuition will be $32,372 for the 2024-2025 school year, an increase of $1,538 over this year, according to the email sent to undergraduate students on Friday, Feb. 9.

The college’s Board of Trustees approved the increase on Thursday, Feb. 8. Fees also will go up by 2.1%, and housing will increase 3%. Semester in LA and U-Pass charges are not part of fees.

Last year, the

The Columbia Chronicle • 30th January 2024

Muslim Student Association hosts World Hijab Day booth for third year

The Muslim Student Association hosted its third annual World Hijab Day event, educating students on the significance of the religious head covering and offering a booth in the Student Center for students to try on an array of hijabs.

Though the event was downsized due to having fewer board members, the association wanted to make sure the event was informational.

For Sumana Syed, MSA president, and senior film and television major, the event helped spread information about hijabs amidst the Isr

The Columbia Chronicle • 25th January 2024

Students settle in to campus for start of spring semester after historic strike disrupted fall learning

Columbia students returned to campus this week for the start of the Spring 2024 semester. The picket lines were gone, and striking part-time faculty members were back in the classroom after the Columbia Faculty Union reached a deal with the college at the end of the fall semester to end the historic seven-week strike.

The Chronicle’s photojournalists went around campus to document the beginning of the semester.

The Columbia Chronicle • 27th November 2023

Hip-hop in motion: BOYNESKI

Katelyn Boynes, known as Boyneski, is a sophomore music business major with a minor in marketing and an artist from the South Side of Chicago, Boyneski was inspired by her dad, who is a producer in the music industry.

She released her debut album “Solar System” on Sept. 9. She also released her most recent single “Substance” on Nov. 8. Boyneski encourages other creatives in the music field to find their moment and just go for it by releasing their first song. When Boynes struggles during the mu

The Columbia Chronicle • 21st November 2023

Provost: Students are expected to return to class after fall break as negotiations with union continue

The college has reached out to an assigned federal mediator after meeting with the part-time faculty union again over the weekend, a sign that the talks have not stalled completely.

Chief of Staff Laurent Pernot, who is a part of the college’s bargaining team, said the college agreed to the union’s revised proposal for compensating part-time faculty who lost sections for the Spring 2024 semester.

“We have made further progress toward the establishment of a new health care benefit, with the col

The Columbia Chronicle • 17th November 2023

Faculty discuss increased workload, need for shared governance over strike decisions

Some full-time faculty began stepping in to cover for part-time instructors out on strike, even though the college has yet to share details about how students will be graded in classes that haven’t met for three weeks.

The Columbia Faculty Union, which represented 584 part-time instructors at the start of the fall semester, has been on strike since Oct. 30. Hundreds of classes have not met for three weeks, and students have not heard from their instructors.

Some striking instructors began remo

The Columbia Chronicle • 16th November 2023

Students protest course cuts, demand tuition reimbursement

Dozens of students staged a sit-in at the 600 S. Michigan Ave. building and protested in front of the Student Center on Thursday, Nov. 16, demanding a tuition reimbursement for the three weeks that most classes have been canceled.

They called on the college to settle the labor dispute with the Columbia Faculty Union, which walked out on Oct. 30 over cuts the college is making to address a $20 million deficit.

“We came in today because we feel that our money should be given back to us after all

The Columbia Chronicle • 14th November 2023

Fashion Department holds ‘Stitch ‘N’ Bitch’ to help students deal with strike

The Fashion Department is hosting a “Stitch ‘N’ Bitch” festival this week to help fashion students complete projects and assignments during the third week of the part-time union strike.

Chair Professor of the Fashion Department Colbey Reid first promoted the event via Instagram on Nov. 13, announcing that this week she will be hosting the department’s first ever “Stitch ‘N’ Bitch” for fashion students. She said any full-time faculty who are not teaching class during the event will be there to h

The Columbia Chronicle • 5th November 2023

Part-time faculty union strike heads into second week as spring registration starts

Registration for next spring will start at 7 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 6, as the strike with the part-time faculty union moves into a second week.

The college has said all facilities remain open, including creative spaces, labs and studios, and students can still check out equipment.

The union is striking over cost-cutting measures the college has taken to close a $20 million deficit. The result will be fewer opportunities for Columbia’s 584 part-time instructors to teach.

The college said bargain

The Columbia Chronicle • 3rd November 2023

Part-time union strike continues into weekend as community leaders rally with instructors

Surrounded by a cast of union heavy hitters, Columbia’s part-time faculty union marched and picketed on the fifth day of its strike Friday, Nov. 3.

Representatives from the Illinois Federation of Teachers, The American Federation of Teachers and the Chicago Teachers Union joined the Columbia Faculty Union for a press conference outside of 600 S. Michigan Ave. Union members interviewed each other on video and posed for pictures.

The Columbia Faculty Union, which represents 584 part-time instruc

The Columbia Chronicle • 1st November 2023

Carrera de los Muertos: Celebración de vida

PILSEN – A las 8 de la mañana del sábado 28 de octubre arrancó la Carrera de los Muertos, una celebración que honra la vida y la cultura mexicana. La carrera de cinco kilómetros es organizada por United Neighborhood Organization (UNO) con el fin de recaudar fondos para el programa de GirlsMPowered. A través de...

The Columbia Chronicle • 18th October 2023

Movimiento Martes keeps Columbia community dancing throughout Hispanic Heritage Month

Dance duo Chris and Alexus Dance Official collaborated with Columbia’s SDI office to host Movimiento Martes. Movimiento Martes is an event throughout Hispanic Heritage Month honoring the community, life and celebration through dance.

Chris and Alexus Dance Official is made up of Alexus Vargas and Chirs Cabral.

Vargas and Cabral taught students, families and friends of the Columbia community four different types of dances, including Bachata, Salsa, Cumbia and Merengue. Movimiento Martes was hos

The Columbia Chronicle • 16th October 2023

College considers cutting programs, reducing credit requirements to close deficit

The Columbia administration is considering multiple cost-cutting measures to balance the budget and curb the college’s $20 million deficit.

Campus leaders have started to share some of the ideas with faculty in recent days, including at a forum on Monday, Oct. 16 with President and CEO Kwang-Wu Kim and other administrators.

Some of what is under consideration:
• None Reducing the core curriculums credits from 42 to 30
• None Cutting back on use of part-time faculty

What faculty are saying: As

The Columbia Chronicle • 27th September 2023

37 compañías celebran su cultura en el Festival de Danza Latina de Chicago

El primer evento tuvo lugar el 17 de septiembre en el Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts ubicado cerca de la Universidad de Chicago en Hyde Park. El segundo evento se llevó a cabo el pasado 23 de septiembre en el Old Town of Folk Music en Lincoln Square.

Dill Costa es profesora del grupo de danza brasileña en el Old Town of Folk Music. Además de danza, Costa incluye la historia en sus clases. “La samba es emocional, ancestral, histórica, y un legado”, especialmente la influencia africana

The Columbia Chronicle • 26th September 2023

Regina Taylor hosts kickoff event in celebration of new Black Album Mixtape project

In 2020, actress and playwright Regina Taylor started the Black Album Mixtape project at Southern Methodist University in the format of virtual performances for students to share discourse during the peak of the Black Lives Matter movement.

“I was very moved by the outcome, by all the myriad of topics and way that people wanted to express themselves as well,” Taylor said,

Taylor is now bringing the project to Columbia to give students an opportunity to explore the theme of “Stand Up, Speak Out

The Columbia Chronicle • 23rd September 2023

Faculty, staff leaders push for more involvement in helping the college confront its financial problems

Columbia’s Faculty Senate President Madhurima Chakraborty said the college is becoming more transparent about its financial problems even though the disclosures are “tough” to hear.

“We are starting to see some really candid responses,”said Chakraborty, an associate professor in the English and Creative Writing Department. “Again, it’s not great information, and we almost always have more questions than there seems to be opportunities to get those answered.”

In an email sent Tuesday, Sept. 19,

The Columbia Chronicle • 19th September 2023

BREAKING: College remains ‘off track’ in efforts to address financial crisis

President and CEO Kwang-Wu Kim said the college is “off track” in executing a plan to address the college’s financial problems.

“The college’s educational and business model continues to be under significant strain,” Kim said in an email to faculty and staff on Tuesday, Sept. 19. The college administration announced in Spring 2023 that to address a $20 million financial deficit it would need to do four things: increase freshman enrollment, improve student retention, increase net tuition revenue

The Columbia Chronicle • 1st September 2023

Convocation demuestra el progreso para los estudiantes latinos

La estudiante Nicole Nicolalde, quien cursa el último año de interpretación vocal en el programa de música, se unió al conjunto latino durante el segundo semestre de su segundo año. “Cuando me uní al conjunto latino fue cuando me sentí… incluida”, expresó. “Supongo que estábamos haciendo canciones con las que crecí…fue entonces cuando me di cuenta que me expreso mejor a través de la música latina”.

Columbia’s Latin Ensemble kicked off Convocation, an event held to welcome new students that went

The Columbia Chronicle • 1st September 2023

College welcomes new students with scavenger hunts, faculty meet-ups

Columbia departments welcomed new students to the campus for the annual “New Student Connections,” a campus-wide event in which departments showcase their faculty and programs.

“We’ve been doing Connections for a long time, for students to meet each other and connect,” said Dardi McGinley-Gallivan, associate chair and professor of instruction from the Dance Department.

Many departments participating in Connections incorporated elements of their own curriculums or goals into the programming. Th

The Columbia Chronicle • 29th August 2023

Columbia students begin moving into dorms

Columbia students and their family members stood in long lines and pushed carts stacked with cardboard boxes into the residence halls this week, signaling the start of the new school year.

“I know the drill,” said junior cinema and television student Jauryn Franklin, who is from Peoria in central Illinois. Franklin has been staying at The Dwight for the past three years and lives in a private room.

“It feels a little bit more organized,” Franklin said, adding that the move-in process went smoo

The Columbia Chronicle • 17th August 2023

College analyzes student population and ongoing support efforts ahead of fall semester

Columbia’s student body is becoming more diverse, with about 62% of the incoming first-year class this fall identifying as people of color, said Derek Brinkley, associate vice president of Undergraduate Admissions.

New student enrollment for Fall 2023 is 1,756, he said, leading off the inaugural Student Success Summit on Thursday, Aug. 17. The aim of the summit, held at the Student Center, was to address how to increase retention and better support students on campus.

Brinkely said the majorit

The Columbia Chronicle • 7th August 2023

Photos: Artists rocked Grant Park stages for Lollapalooza 2023

Daniel Vaides, Juan Ortega, and Jony Rivera Lopez of Los Aptos in the press lounge after their set at Lollapalooza on Saturday, Aug 5, 2023. The trio is known for their Mexican music fused with influences from bedroom pop, and have over 700,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.

The Columbia Chronicle • 6th August 2023

Gloomy Day Four brings Lollapalooza to a close

The misty rain and overcast sky continued for second day at Grant Park during Day Four of Lollapalooza Music Festival, but spirits remained high.

“It is actually a blessing,” said festivalgoer Camron Episcopo as he awaited the next set from LA rock band Mt. Joy at the T-Mobile stag.”The rain has felt great.” Episcopo was standing in a semi-muddy field. Lollapalooza staff put bark chips over the park’s muddier spots to help keep the terrain level and accessible.

Artists performing throughout th