I have a confession:
My experience of Barnard was largely social.

When I read the Barnard magazine (ummmm . . . how GLAM does that Annie Leibovitz cover shot of President Shapiro look by the way??) and they talk about the various Barnard traditions, I pretty much draw a blank. In the magazine world, I’ve met lots of people who went to Barnard or Columbia that I didn’t know back in the day. When they ask me what I was involved with at school, I always turn 12 shades of pink and admit that I spent most of my time at the West End Gate and Cannons . . . none of which exist anymore! I don’t think I’m alone (come on, sisters, I wasn’t the only one there!): I think a lot of people go to college and they’re not necessarily into the traditions or the things that they write about in the college guidebooks. But I still think that you can have a meaningful relationship with your college. For a long time I was a bit embarrassed of how party-centric I was in college. But then I remember the sheltered girl I was when I arrived and realize that girl had to be unleashed at SOME point. Once I came to terms with that, my relationship with Barnard totally changed. Read more »