Reflecting on the Journey
"As Columbia students, it can be easy to forget our place in society at-large, but it is essential we remain as civically-minded now as when we first applied. We should frame our educations and interactions in a societally-applicable fashion, so what we learn in the classroom can be implemented out of the classroom to bring about beneficial change. Majoring in computer science? Write an ethical program to make someone's life more efficient. Studying economics? Think of the growing wealth gap and how you could fix it. The Columbia community is such a special and brilliant place to learn; don't take it for granted and forget why we are here—to improve our world.”
Sean Kelso CC’20
Advocating civic and individual responsibility
"When an admissions officer told me Columbia was looking to build a space for Native students, I knew I needed to be a part of it. I took a leadership role and now we have a residential space, called the Manhattan House. We have a mentoring initiative through the Office of Multicultural Affairs, all these new resources and a real community that didn’t exist when I was a freshman, and certainly not five years ago. I want to be someone who inserts Native issues into the conversation and makes it possible for my relatives — our people — to live a dignified existence in homelands that have mostly been taken away from us."
Julian Brave NoiseCat CC'15
Advocating civic and individual responsibility
“Even though I've only been at Columbia for a couple of months, I already feel very supported here,” she added. “Social justice is so integrated into Columbia's culture, and I'm constantly inspired by activists on campus and feel like I really have the means to make my voice heard.”
Lulu Cerone CC’21
Advocating civic and individual responsibility
"My goal became to empower a marginalized voting bloc: college students, a group frequently ignored by media and politicians. I wanted to create a voting tradition at Columbia that complements our strong and storied tradition of political activism. And so I came up with the idea of a “Voting Week”: a week dedicated to civic engagement. For me, Voting Week became the embodiment of everything that I had been involved in at Columbia. As such, I dedicated my senior thesis to Voting Week, describing the ways in which my academic interests intersected with my extracurricular efforts to mobilize students outside the classroom."
David Kang CC'15