In addition to being drop-dead gorgeous, James Franco is now an Ivy League nerd.

That’s right -- the Columbia BWOG reports that the Pineapple Express star is currently enrolled in Columbia’s MFA Writing Program, and he has been spotted by several tipsters walking around campus sporting a new scruffy look.

The original tipster that broke the story offers this advice for potential stalkers Francophiles:

"Stalkers, plan accordingly: I was at the Whitney Museum administrative offices for an internship interview this afternoon... As I'm waiting for security to contact my interviewer, I hear JFranc say that he's enrolled at the Columbia MFA Writing Program for Fall 2008, and he'll be taking classes at Tisch as well."

Tisch too, huh? Looks like the ladies from Columbia, Barnard and NYU will all be vying for the love, attention and affection of Mr. Franco this fall.

But, if anyone is going to win that cat fight, it’s the women of Columbia, because Franco seems to be developing a strong affinity for his newfound alma mater.

According to several sources, Franco will be playing Columbia alumnus and legendary poet Allen Ginsberg in the upcoming biopic “Howl,” which is based on one of the poet’s most controversial poems.

The New York Observer reports:

[The] film will focus on the obscenity trial surrounding the 1957 American publication of Ginsberg's most famous poem, "Howl."

 

Hopefully Mr. Franco will not go overboard in his attempts to mimic Ginsberg: if he goes too far he might end up getting kicked out of Columbia, where he enrolled in an MFA program this fall.

Is it merely a coincidence that Franco is attending Columbia and will be playing a writer who went to the same school in the near future? Probably not, which suggests that he may simply be preparing for his film role.

In any case, the ladies of Columbia sure don't mind, and they have already been seen harassing the young, hot Hollywood celebrity.

From the Columbia Spectator blog of Vesal Yazdi:

[People] start hoarding around the entrance of the cafe, and by 11:50PM, most Columbians, particularly the type of ridiculous, squealing, freshman girl are all harassing the poor guy. At first, he would try not to respond. This made things quite awkward since the gawkers were shameless enough to literally go right up to him in desperate attempts to get his attention. Ha! He thought his headphones had the power to transport him into another world where he could be a student in peace.

Yeah -- leave Franco alone, jerks! He's all mine.