The MTV Woodie Awards will air this Wednesday, but some of us got to see who won as it happened last week. As hundreds of college students swarmed the Roseland Ballroom, a group of fellow Lions and I battled through the mandatory coat check and secured a spot in the center of all the action. Check back soon for a photo gallery, but for now, here's the play-by-play of how the Woodie Awards reignited my last little spark of school spirit: 

Vampire Weekend: AKA everybody's favorite uber-pretentious indie rockers. Who but Columbia grads could write a song about the Oxford comma and get love from MTV? Vampire Weekend unfortunately lost the Best Video Woodie to Motion City Soundtrack (lame), but they did get to close out the show with the finale performance.

Chromeo: Admittedly, Chromeo is only half Columbian, but I think that half is the better half (at a minimum, it is for sure the better looking half). Chromeo not only gained a nomination for Left Field Woodie, they also won, celebrating their interesting and original sound. They also performed in the finale, successfully enhancing Vampire Weekend's rather mellow sound. My only lament is that I never see the dashing David Macklovitch on campus. I'll show you how knickerbockers rally 'round.

Columbia Debate is Legit: The video clips introducing every award starred Columbia's own parliamentary debaters (see above). Sure, MTV may have thrown a few actors in the mix, but the real debaters rocked it. Watch out for those kids on campus; I hear they'll sign autographs.