The Spring 2025 Semester in Review

singer on stage at Manifest Arts Festival
The spring 2025 semester at Columbia College Chicago was filled with incredible accomplishments from faculty, students, and alumni in media, arts, and more.

As the summer begins, Columbia College Chicago closes the book on the Spring 2025 semester. From celebrating 135 years of educating creatives to celebrating students, faculty, and alumni accomplishments in their fields. These are just some of the highlights from the past five months.

January

Columbia Takes First at 2025 NRF Foundation University Challenge
Not technically, during the spring semester, but this win deserves a special shout out. In early January, a team of Columbia students took home first place at the 2025 NRF Foundation University Challenge, with another team reaching the national semi-finals.
The winning team worked on product development, marketing communications, and partnership innovations for Carter’s Inc., North America’s largest marketer of young children’s apparel.

February

Columbia College Kicks Off 135th Anniversary Celebrations
Columbia College Chicago is celebrating its 135th anniversary in 2025. We kicked off the celebration by unveiling a new mural by recent graduate Mac McGuire ‘24. The mural, “A Path Forward,” is on display at the Conaway Center and captures the evolution of Columbia while highlighting its community and growth.

Student's First-Year Film Brings Healing and Hope
In a story that resonated with the Columbia community and beyond, the college featured the work of School of Film and Television freshman Julia Knopfel. With the help of one of her fall semester professors and classmates, Knopfel channeled her family’s grief into a deeply personal short documentary about her uncle's tragic death.

Alum Katherine Iorio ’13 wins Emmy for Breaking News Coverage
Columbia alumni are fixtures at the major media and entertainment awards. Katherine Iorio '13 won an Emmy for her work at CNN covering the Israel-Hamas War

March

'Columbia Chronicle' Wins 33 Awards at Illinois College Press Association Awards
“The Columbia Chronicle” broke records, bringing home 33 awards from the Illinois College Press Association Awards. In addition to the most awards the paper has ever won in a single year, “The Chronicle” also won the sweepstakes for the mid-sized school category.
In May, “The Columbia Chronicle” also brought home a prestigious Lisagor Award.

Students Launch 'Braid' App for Textured Hair Education
Four seniors from Columbia’s UX/UI design program addressed a longstanding gap in the beauty industry with “Braid,” an app offering extensive resources on textured hair care. Having started the project in Fall 2024, the team spent the spring expanding the potential reach for the app, including applying to Black Ambition’s 2025 Prize Competition.

Bolton Named 11th President and Chief Executive Officer
In March, Columbia announced the exciting news that Dr. Shantay N. Bolton will be the 11th President and Chief Executive Officer of the college. Bolton comes to Columbia after serving as executive vice president of administration and finance and chief business officer at Georgia Tech.

April

Kentucky Derby Festival: Columbia Style
Columbia alumni can be found in unexpected places. Jacey Rhorer '00 made her mark as the Official Milliner for the 2025 Kentucky Derby Festival. In this position, Rhorer set the tone for the festival, which is famous for its eye-catching fashion, especially hats.

School of Film and TV Talent Recognized
The hard work of the faculty, students, and alumni was recognized twice in April. First, seven Columbia students and alumni showcased their short films at this year’s CineYouth Festival, which is presented each year by the Chicago International Film Festival.

Then, “Variety” again included Columbia College Chicago in its annual Education Impact Report, highlighting the college's focus on individuality and collaboration and its ability to help students build standout portfolios that prepare them for careers in screenwriting, cinematography, production design, virtual production, sound design and multi-camera production.

Students Named to Metropolis Future100
Three interior architecture students, Olivia Grote, Elly Hallack, and Anna Maris, were honored in “Metropolis” magazine’s 2025 Future100 list for their innovation and design excellence. The list recognizes the top 100 graduating architecture and interior design students across North America.


May

RENT, AIDS Quilt Come to Columbia
For the college’s final show of the season, the School of Theatre and Dance staged a production of “RENT.” In conjunction with the show, three sections of the AIDS Memorial Quilt were displayed in the lobby of the Getz Theatre Center, which highlighted the broader political and cultural context of the show.

Bringing Home a Bizzy
Jerry Brindisi, interim director of the School of Business and Entrepreneurship, won the 2025 Music Business Educator of the Year Award by the Music Business Association. This honor recognizes educators who inspire and prepare students for successful careers in the music industry. The award was presented at the Bizzy Awards Dinner in Atlanta.

One Star-Studded Weekend
At Manifest Arts Festival 2025: IMAGINE, students showed off their hard work and talent in exhibitions, performances, and showcases across the college. The Manifest Music Video Contest winner was "Be You" by Uriel Blunt '25 and Manny the Manifest mascot also made their debut on stage and around the festival.

2025 Graduation Ceremonies
On Sunday, the stars aligned for the class of 2025. Over 1,000 graduates crossed the stage, hailing from 41 states and 16 countries. They were joined by two prominent Columbia alumni who were honored as honorary degree recipients. Acclaimed actor Joseph Sikora ’98 and Grammy-nominated producer Marcos “Kosine” Palacios ’06 spoke to graduates about their journeys since graduation and offered words of encouragement.

A Buzzer Beater
In a year-long collaboration Columbia fashion students and local brand SOUNDOFF developed a custom fan apparel collection for the Chicago Sky, Chicago’s WNBA team, in a class that blended sportswear design with hands-on industry experience. Their work came to fruition when, in the week after the end of spring semester, their designs were featured on multiple news outlets and at the Sky’s home opener.

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