Columbia Students Rise and Shine on 'Good Morning America'

Students and staff show their Columbia pride to a national audience on live television.

If you were among the hundreds of thousands of viewers watching “Good Morning America” (GMA) on August 9, you probably caught a glimpse of some incredibly enthusiastic Columbia College Chicago students and staff members sporting Columbia t-shirts and waving Columbia signs.  

And if you were lucky, you also saw Senior Jewel Baker douse herself with cola on national television.

Columbia students and staff rolled out of bed early that morning to gather at Millennium Park’s Cloud Gate (aka “The Bean”) and participate in the live broadcast of GMA’s Deals and Steals segment, which features Tory Johnson. Baker, a CTVA student, answered the in-the-moment call to volunteer as a model for a stain-resistant blouse featured as one of the deals.  

“It was very unexpected, but I think those kinds of impromptu moments are kind of the best things that happen,” she says. “It was really fun to be part of it.” 

“Good Morning America’s” invitation to Columbia, provided a chance for students and staff to show their school pride to a national audience. It also gave students a behind-the-scenes peek at live television, which had an impact on Baker’s thoughts about her future career during this time of strikes and production halts.  

“Live TV is the kind of the thing that doesn't stop,” Baker says. “I definitely want to consider it a little bit more now.”

 

See Columbia on "Good Morning America" here.