Columbia College has appointed Kecia Hayes, a Teachers College alumna with more than 20 years of education experience, as the new executive director of the Roger Lehecka Double Discovery Center (DDC), a program that works to enhance higher education opportunities for local low-income and first-generation youth ages 12–27. DDC’s academic enrichment program, which serves approximately 1,000 students annually and has become a model for similar programs throughout the United States, focuses on ensuring high school graduation, college enrollment and completion, and responsible adulthood. Hayes will formally begin transitioning into her new role on Monday, January 29 and will be fully on board on Monday, February 19.

Kenzo Health — a team made up of Young Joon Kim CC’20, Arjun Srivatsa CC’20 and Spencer Yen SEAS’20 — has been chosen as one of five teams to advance to the next level of The Columbia Design Challenge: Addressing the Opioid Epidemic.