Columbia University

*"Planning is not a major at this university"*
―Dr. Connors to Peter Parker[src]
**Columbia University** is a private university located in Manhattan, New York City.

The known staff includes Curt Connors. Otto Octavius used to teach there prior to his transformation into *Doctor Octopus*. Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy are among the known students.

## History

### Midtown High School Field Trip

In 2002, a group of Midtown High School seniors, which include, Peter Parker, his best friend, Harry Osborn and childhood crush, Mary Jane Watson, went on a field trip to Columbia University to visit its genetics laboratory. On the way, Peter was introduced to Harry's father, Norman Osborn, the founder and CEO of Oscorp Industries, before they the boys were called over by the school teacher.

During the tour in Columbia University's genetics lab, the Midtown High seniors were given a tour by one of the scientists, who revealed they were doing experimentations on spiders and studying their nature, including their powers. Once the scientist revealed they combined the genetics from three spiders into fifteen genetically engineered super spiders, Mary Jane noticed one of the spiders was missing from the spider containers. The scientist believed her researchers were working on that spider, but unknown to her and everyone in the lab, that spider had escaped from its container and was on a web high above them. While taking photos of Mary Jane by the containers, Peter was bitten by the escaped spider before it fled when Peter shook it off in pain. The spider had injected its mutated venom and DNA inside Peter, resulting in his genetic makeup being altered and granting him the proportionate abilities of a spider.

### Peter Parker's Education

#### Grades Declining

Following his high school graduation, Peter enrolled at Columbia University majoring in biophysics. Although he is academically brilliant, Peter was also late for his classes, due to his duties as Spider-Man, which caused him to get declined grades. This frustrated his teacher, Dr. Curt Connors, who always saw Peter exhausted when he showed up for class late or missing it. Dr. Connors informed Peter he needed to finish his research and show up to class on time or he fails him if he doesn't.

During a biophysics class, while Connors was lecturing, Peter was sitting in his desk, drawing in his notebook, first some equations over the failed fusion reactor test from Otto Octavius' accident that resulted him becoming Doctor Octopus, then several "MJ"s written on it. Peter was reflecting over his failure of not turning up to Mary Jane's play on time and wondering how he'll try to repair his relationship with her, especially he could tell her how he feels about her.

#### Improving Grades

After he lost his powers to an emotional breakdown of stress, Peter gave up being Spider-Man and returned to his life at Columbia University. He studied hard enough to keep his grades up, which impressed Dr. Connors. Even after Peter returned as Spider-Man after his powers were restored, he was able to finally balance his double life and becoming the top of his class at Columbia University. Peter became partners and friends with Gwen Stacy, who was also an intelligent science individual.

### Discovering An Alien Substance

After a meteorite fell from the sky, a mysterious black like goo crawled out of the meteorite and latched its way to Peter, while he and Mary Jane were on a date. Soon, the black goo bonded to Peter and changed his suit to full black, enhancing his powers. Peter took a sample of the black goo to show to Dr. Connors, who was astonished to see it was alive and an alien-life form. He warned Peter not to let it get on him, as it had the characteristics of a symbiote which needed to bond to a host to survive and can be hard to unbond.

Dr. Connors later studied the sample of the black symbiote and discovered to his horror, that it does not just bond with a host, it takes over and amplifies negative emotions such as anger, aggression, hatred, frustration and spite, which could be dangerous. Dr. Connors phoned Peter to inform him about what he discovered, which made Peter later realise the black suit's true nature after it made him hit Mary Jane, forcing him to remove the black symbiote using a bell at a church tower, which later bonded to Eddie Brock.

## Staff

**Staff**
 **Wally Davis** | Medical Doctor
 **Otto Octavius** | Scientist

## Students

**Students**
 **Gwen Stacy** | Biophysics

## Trivia

* Following the release of *Spider-Man: No Way Home*, featuring Peter Parker grown up, it is unknown if he has graduated from Columbia University by the time he met his two alternative counterparts in Earth-199999.

## External Links

* Columbia University at Wikipedia
* Columbia University at Marvel Database