Barack Obama's Columbia University Days: Foreign Student Status?

There have been many claims and conspiracy theories that Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States, attended Columbia University as a foreign student. However, these claims are unfounded and have been debunked on multiple occasions. A 1981 Columbia University ID card, which identifies Obama as a foreign student named Barry Soetoro, is a fake. Obama did, in fact, attend Columbia University and graduated in 1983 with a major in political science.

Obama's Columbia University student ID card

Rumours have circulated for years claiming that former US President Barack Obama attended Columbia University as a foreign exchange student under the name Barry Soetoro, the surname of his Indonesian stepfather. Evidence of this, supposedly, was a 1981 Columbia University student ID card that identified him as such. This, however, is a fake.

Firstly, Columbia University didn't even start using digital ID cards until 1996, 13 years after Obama graduated. Secondly, the ID card in question actually belonged to another student, Thomas Lugert, who posted his card online in 1998. Thirdly, the photograph on the ID card is not a picture of Obama as a 20-year-old in 1981; it was taken several years later during or shortly after his time at Harvard Law School (1988-1991). Finally, Columbia University does not label student IDs with "foreign student".

Obama did, however, attend Columbia University in New York as a transfer student in 1981, after spending his first two college years at Occidental College in California. He lived off-campus in various makeshift arrangements and pursued a political science degree, specialising in international relations. He graduated in 1983 with a major in political science. Obama himself has described his time at Columbia as a "quiet" and "intense period of study", during which he "spent a lot of time in the library" and "didn't socialise that much".

Obama's citizenship

Barack Obama's citizenship was a highly controversial topic during his presidency and afterwards. Obama is a natural-born citizen of the United States, born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on August 4, 1961, to Ann Dunham, a white American from Wichita, Kansas, and her husband, Barack Obama Sr., a Luo from Nyang'oma Kogelo, Kenya, who was attending the University of Hawaii. Obama's citizenship was questioned by the "birther movement", which falsely asserted that he was ineligible to be President of the United States because he was not a natural-born citizen. These conspiracy theories were most firmly held by Republicans strong in both political knowledge and racial resentment.

Theories alleged that Obama's published birth certificate was a forgery and that his actual birthplace was Kenya. Others claimed that he became a citizen of Indonesia in childhood, thereby losing his U.S. citizenship, or that he was born a dual citizen (British and American). Some even went so far as to claim that Obama attended Columbia University as a foreign student under the name "Barry Soetoro", his childhood alias in Indonesia, reflecting his Indonesian stepfather's surname. However, there are no records to suggest that Obama ever went by this name while attending Columbia, and Columbia University did not even start using digital ID cards until 1996, long after Obama graduated.

Despite Obama's pre-election release of his official Hawaiian birth certificate in 2008, confirmation by the Hawaii Department of Health, and the release of his original "long-form" birth certificate in 2011, theories persisted. Notable advocates of these theories include businessman and television personality Donald Trump, who would later succeed Obama as president, and Orly Taitz, a California dentist and attorney who has been called the "queen bee of the birthers".

Obama's major at Columbia University

Barack Obama did attend Columbia University, graduating in 1983 with a bachelor's degree in political science. Obama's major at Columbia University was political science, with a focus on international relations. This is supported by several sources, including a 2009 article in the Columbia College Today alumni publication, which identified Obama as a Columbia College alumnus and the first alumnus to become President of the United States.

Obama's time at Columbia University was marked by a focus on academics and a relatively solitary lifestyle. In interviews and his memoir, Obama described himself as a "monk" during his time at Columbia, indicating that he was not very social and did not leave a strong impression on his classmates. However, some individuals have come forward claiming to have known Obama during his time at Columbia, including roommates and a professor who recalled Obama acing his senior seminar in American Foreign Policy.

Despite the relative obscurity of Obama's time at Columbia, his major in political science laid the foundation for his future career in politics and ultimately his historic election as the first Black President of the United States.

Obama's transfer from Occidental College to Columbia University

Barack Obama's transfer from Occidental College to Columbia University took place in 1981, when he was 20 years old. Obama has said that he wanted to transfer to a university in a "more vibrant, urban environment". As a transfer student, he didn't receive housing, so he lived off-campus in various makeshift arrangements.

Obama pursued a political science degree, specialising in international relations. He was somewhat involved with the Black Students Organisation and participated in anti-apartheid activities. However, he has described his time at Columbia as a "quiet" and intense period of study, during which he spent a lot of time in the library and didn't socialise that much.

Obama graduated from Columbia in 1983, with a major in political science.

Obama's time at Columbia University

Barack Obama transferred to Columbia University in 1981 after two years at Occidental College in California. Obama's time at Columbia was marked by a focus on academics and a desire to connect with the African American community. He pursued a political science degree, specialising in international relations, and was somewhat involved with the Black Students Organisation. Obama himself described his time at Columbia as a monk-like period of study, during which he spent a lot of time in the library and didn't socialise much. He lived off-campus in various makeshift arrangements, including renting a sixth-floor walk-up just north of gentrification.

Obama's time at Columbia was also marked by a significant personal event: learning of his father's death in 1982. This loss had a profound impact on him, as he had idolised his father, an economist and scholar, who had studied at Harvard. However, years later, Obama would discover a more complex truth about his father's life, including his struggles with alcoholism and abuse.

During his senior year at Columbia, Obama wrote an article for the student publication Sundial, titled "Breaking the War Mentality." He graduated from Columbia in 1983 with a major in political science and went on to work as a community organiser in Chicago, continuing his pursuit of social justice and activism.

It is important to note that there have been false claims and conspiracy theories suggesting that Obama attended Columbia as a foreign student under the name Barry Soetoro. These allegations have been thoroughly debunked, with evidence showing that Obama used his stepfather's surname Soetoro only during his childhood in Indonesia and that Columbia University did not even use digital ID cards until 1996, years after Obama's graduation.

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