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Oh, You Didn’t Know?

Her Campus Placeholder Avatar Shardae Smith
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Columbia Chicago chapter.

Columbia College Chicago is a very unique school; from it’s over the top students and courses related to Harry Potter and The Simpsons. It’s definitely not a traditional college in that it’s located in the heart of downtown Chicago, no official fraternities or sororities or no gym (our sports is considered an athletic club). But here are a few things you can catch at Columbia.

1.Swag: If you attended New Student Convocation, you probably left with a bag of swag, cool cups, buttons, condoms and even lube. The college isn’t promoting sex, but acknowledges what goes on in the REAL world and wants its students to wrap it up (lube it up too…lol). You can also find candy bowls filled with condoms in the Multicultural Affairs office and the Advising Center. Buttons, there’s always some cool buttons spotted on campus too. For African Heritage Month, African Cultural Affairs has cool buttons that read “I love black women” and “I love black men.”

2. Mark Kelly: The College’s Vice President of Academic Affairs a.k.a MC “Hell Yeah.” At convocation, he leads the students with his Hell Yeah ritual where he pledges the students to commit and the students respond with HELL YEAH (it’s pretty cool). And let’s not forget the Student Programming Council’s promotional video for Biggest Mouth where Kelly rapped. If you haven’t seen it, please check it out. It speaks for itself
http://youtu.be/3CenmrNhUAc
 
3.  Free Food: There’s always an event going on where you can find free food. Trust me, it’s not hard to find.

4. Jim DeRogatis: The former editor for Rolling Stone and Chicago Suntimes…that’s interesting. But, he testified in the R. Kelly porn case after the infamous sex tape landed on his desk. Staying true to his 1st amendment rights, Dero refused to say much while on the stand.
 
5. Birthday Sex: Ok, maybe not… but the R&B crooner Jeremih attended Columbia before deciding to pursue his music career full-time. Other famous Columbia related folks are Kanye West, rapper turned activist Rhymefest and the lovely Erica Hubbard, star of BET’s “Let’s Stay Together” and ABC Family’s Lincoln Heights and more. Check out Jackson’s previous post for a complete run down of famous alumni.
http://hercampus.com/school/colum/did-you-know-notable-former-students-columbia
 
6. Guest Appearances: This month for African Heritage Month, Oscar nominated actress Taraji P. Henson will be coming to the college on Valentine’s Day to speak to the students. Past guests include Patti Smith and Debbie Allen.
 
Columbia is a really cool place and this list is sure to go on and on. 

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Shardae is a senior journalism major and honor student at Columbia College Chicago, class of 2011. Born and raised on the South Side of Chicago, Shardae considers Lake Michigan and its surrounding land to be her "backyard." In addition to being a Campus Corresponent for HerCampus.com, she's an Assistant Campus Editor for The Chronicle, Columbia's newspaper.  She also writes for Gloss Magazine Online and is also an intern for Special K at 103.5 Kiss FM. Shardae is an avid reader of celebrity gossip blogs, and believes news is just organized gossip. She is also the mother of a one-year-old daughter and would like to show other young women that all the above can be achieved. Shardae is extremely excited about graduation next spring, and plans to wear her cap and gown for an entire 24-hours after the ceremony. Her favorite thing to do is eat and her passion is writing, she hopes to one day work for Food Network magazine.