That’s a wrap: Barnumbia students reflect on the 2024-25 school year

To better understand how students felt about this year, I went out to Futter Field in early May and interviewed students enjoying the warm spring weather.

Photo by Ankita Mandal/The Barnard Bulletin

By Nura Ali

May 31, 2025

With the end of the 2024-2025 academic year here, we don’t just leave behind finals and deadlines. It is the close of friendships, romances, extracurricular chapters, and so much more. As a student myself, I’ve experienced many changes over the past nine months, and I know I’m not alone. Every Barnumbia student has lived through transitions and challenges that have shaped them from the start of the year to now.

I spoke with students from both Barnard and Columbia, sometimes even groups of friends at once. Among them were sophomores Ashari (BC ’27) and Xavier (CC ’27). My first question was simple: “If you had to describe how you felt at the beginning of the school year in a few words, what would you say?”

Ashari answered, “Maybe anticipating or trying to see what the atmosphere would be like, considering everything that’s happened last year,” as they were both on campus during the encampments. When I asked if this feeling was tied to anxiety, she clarified, “No, I’m not anxious. I just think whatever atmosphere we’d be walking into would be very telling — like, where people’s minds are at.”

After the protests that defined the end of last year, many students reported feeling a lack of closure about the future of what campus life might look like. Barnard and Columbia had shown clear neglect of the activism, expression, and needs voiced by the community while continuing school life as “normal,” which resulted in what Ashari noted as a disoriented feeling. 

Xavier agreed, saying he began the year feeling optimistic but with a similar sense of apprehension. Throughout the day, nearly every student I spoke to echoed this theme: wondering, in Ashari’s words, “Where are people’s minds at?” — whether it be administrators, faculty, the Harlem community, or fellow students. John (BC ’27) described feeling “weary and burnt out” after the events of the previous year, wondering what the energy on campus would be like moving forward. 

The reality is impossible to ignore: the political climate on campus has deeply shaped the everyday college experience. As Mia (CC ’27) put it, “It’s kind of hard to experience the college highs to the fullest when all that’s happening. I’d say just having the same events, like Bacchanal or the Night Market, does not quite have the same vibe as last year.”

This feeling Mia describes, a kind of invisible but constant weight, was echoed across conversations. As much as students try to live out a “normal” college experience, the backdrop of activism, unrest, and demands for progress lingers. It hums beneath the surface of even the most carefree moments. First-year students Jane (BC ’28) and Crystal (BC ’28) described more typical first-year emotions: excitement mixed with nervousness and, as Crystal put it, “probably anxious, though.” While some feelings stemmed from the universal transition into college life, others reflected a deeper uncertainty about the state of the campus community itself.

I also asked students, “Were there any pivotal moments this year that really shaped your experience?” I made sure they knew their answers didn’t have to be academic — moments of friendship, romance, family, or even extracurriculars could all be just as important.

For Hanna (CC ’25), the highlight was getting into her top-choice law school, a moment that not only marked an academic success but also reframed her final year of undergraduate life. For others, more personal milestones stood out. Xavier shared, “I got into a romantic relationship. It felt like putting myself out there in a way I hadn’t in a long time, and it was really rewarding.” Liz (CC ’27) reflected on stepping out of the “Barnard/Columbia bubble” by becoming more engaged in the wider community, allowing her to meet people who shared her values.

What I found most striking is how Barnumbia students are navigating this moment. They may feel frustration and anticipation, but they are also finding unity and strength in each other. Liz said this when I asked how they felt compared to the beginning of the school year, saying that something they learned is that “there is power in the individual as well to be the change you want to see.” 

As the 2024-2025 school year comes to a close, one thing is clear: while institutions may be slow to change, the students continue to evolve going through personal growth and everyday experiences of college life but also with the acknowledgement of campus unrest.