Dear Columbia College Students,

This weekend we will welcome our extended Columbia College family back to campus. This weekend, more than 1,300 parents and family members will join us for Family Weekend, and, on Saturday, more than 1,000 alumni and friends will meet us at the Robert K. Kraft Field at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium at the Baker Athletics Complex for Homecoming 2017.

I like to say that you are a Columbia College student for life — you are a future student for 18 years, a current student for four years, and a former student for approximately 62. This weekend represents that — it is a time when we come together to celebrate our intergenerational community, to cheer for our fantastic Columbia Lions, and to show our Columbia Family what life is like for you as current students.

Links with our extended family are not limited to this weekend. You can continue to connect with members of our extended College family through the new Odyssey Mentoring Program, an online community for students and alumni. Use Odyssey to get answers to questions, to discuss challenges or opportunities, to exchange stories about your Columbia College experience, and to form long-term mentoring relationships with former students. I encourage you to attend the Odyssey kickoff event on Tuesday, October 24.

Celebrations will also continue next week on Columbia Giving Day, Wednesday, October 18, when Columbians around the world will come together for a 24-hour event to support the schools, programs and causes that are important to them. Last year, 3,308 Columbia College alumni, parents, students and friends participated in Giving Day, raising $3,468,299 for the College — more than any other school — for financial aid, internships, student services and the Core Curriculum — and thus earning an additional $58,244 in matching funds from University Trustees. We also raised money for the Clothing Closet at the Center for Career Education and a new Young Alumni Scholarship.

You can participate in this celebration by visiting the Columbia College Student Ambassadors and Seniors for the Columbia College Fund tables in Lerner Hall and East Campus from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to learn more about how #ColumbiaGivingDay supports you and to write “thank you” letters to the donors who are making your undergraduate experience possible.

Have a great weekend. I hope you have fun with your families and your friend’s families and make it up to the Baker Athletics Complex to roar as your classmates take the field against Penn.

Roar, Lion(s), Roar!
Deantini