Columbia needs more blanket forts.
By which I mean 1) we should literally build more blanket forts, and 2) that we should seek more spontaneous interaction among students, and more unorganized use of campus spaces.
The first point is pretty self-evident— let me explain the second.
Last week I hung out on Low Steps for 12 straight hours with a home-painted sign, some friends, and a steady barrage of baked goods. I talked to a wide variety of students from all four undergraduate schools, a security guard, a gaggle of Taiwanese tourists, and some very confused parents of prospies.
I was able to collect a wealth of insights and opinions regarding the state of our student body. And an issue that our conversations kept coming back to was isolation at Columbia. This issue in itself, it seems to me, is tied to a a web of other factors, but there are two that I'd like to discuss that are not always entirely obvious.
