Columbia U janitor, 52, graduates with honors

NEW YORK — For years, Gac Fil­i­paj mopped floors, cleaned toi­lets and took out trash at Colum­bia Uni­ver­sity. A refugee from war-torn Yugoslavia, he eked out a liv­ing work­ing for the elite Ivy League school. But Sun­day was pay­back time: The 52-year-old jan­i­tor donned a cap and gown to grad­u­ate with a bachelor’s degree in classics.