November/December 2010
Around the Quads
Kenneth Cole Sponsors Community Engagement Program
Community engagement always has been a vital element in student life at Columbia. Now, fashion designer Kenneth Cole P’10 is giving students interested in working on community projects a huge boost. The College and SEAS are partnering with Cole to create the Kenneth Cole Community Engagement Program, which will provide 12 undergraduates the opportunity to produce meaningful, sustainable change by developing practical approaches to challenges and opportunities faced by participating communities.
“I am enthusiastic about working with Columbia, one of the nation’s most esteemed universities, on a project intended to inspire its talented student body and empower them with the necessary tools to make meaningful and sustainable differences in their respective communities,” said Cole, who sponsored a similar program at his alma mater, Emory, in 2002.
Kenneth Cole Fellows will participate in a unique combination of academic study and co-curricular training. They will take at least two approved courses that address community-building and urban issues along with a spring semester seminar series that emphasizes practical learning. Their fellowships will culminate in a paid summer immersion experience working in teams on projects for community-based organizations, social enterprises or not-for-profit entities. To complement their summer projects, the fellows will participate in a unique living-and-learning community in University residence halls.
“We wish to express our deepest gratitude to Kenneth Cole for recognizing the importance of instruction that extends beyond the classroom and impacts our greater community,” said Dean Michele Moody-Adams. “We are confident that Kenneth Cole Fellows will have the unique opportunity to enrich their own learning experiences while discovering the important role each of us plays in making a difference in the local and global communities to which we are all responsible.”
A committee of faculty and administrators from the College, SEAS, the Division of Student Affairs and the Center for Career Education will select fellows in January from among College and SEAS applicants.
Timothy P. Cross ’85 GSAS, ’88 GSAS, ’98 GSAS