SEX ISSUE

Columbia is ever-changing.

This was proven by the news that the college’s deficit has grown to $38 million, up $18 million since the Fall 2023 semester. The culture of the college’s campus has shifted significantly campus-wide in the wake of the part-time faculty union’s historic seven-week strike.

As the college has been hit with changes affecting faculty, staff and students alike, the Chronicle has also pivoted the way we cover the news. In some aspects, these changes have been positive.

The college placed free menstrual products in bathrooms around campus. The college has integrated a strong culture of using preferred pronouns campus-wide. Columbia’s health center offers pregnancy testing, contraceptive counseling and prescriptions to students, free for students because of annual campus fees paid semesterly.

The Chronicle is back with its annual Sex Issue, reporting on wide ranging topics and chronicling the ways that relationships, sex and romance are changing.

In this issue, we write about how technology and online dating affect relationships and people looking for love, report on the ways that gender norms are shifting in queer and heterosexual relationships and how sex education is pivoting to provide teenagers a fuller picture of what safe practices are.

The climate of the school and student’s needs are changing each day, as new announcements roll out of the college. We – the Chronicle – are committed to reporting on and vetting these changes for students, whether it is through a financial, academic or societal lens.

Change is necessary. Change is good. But without accurate and thorough information and reporting, our audience cannot pivot in the ways they need.

We are committed to cutting down misinformation and diving into what students need to know.

Like any solid news publication, we report the facts. It is up to our readership on how to proceed with that information and what opinion to form based off of it.

Embrace the ways that the college may be changing. Use your voice to advocate for positive changes at Columbia and fight back on changes that aren’t in the best interest of students, faculty and staff.

Change is inevitable and moves fast. So should we.