CCSC congratulates and thanks its E-Board members for successfully creating and receiving administrative approval for the COVID Resource Fund.

Nothing like tuning into CCSC’s joyful antics on a cozy Sunday night in December. So much love and support for each other and the work that everyone is doing. If CCSC members don’t always feel appreciated by the general student body because of lack of awareness, they certainly try hard to make each other feel appreciated for their dedicated time and efforts into improving students’ experiences at the college. Nothing like some inspirational teamwork to pick you up around finals.

As you may have already seen through social media, VP Campus Life Justin Rossman (CC ’22) has helped make the virtual tree lighting ceremony a reality! Tune in December 9th at 9 pm EST for virtual performances and an attempt at pretending that not only is this actually the first evening the trees have been lit (Columbia admin, who are you fooling), but also that we’re not still living in a global pandemic and that’s why you’re watching a lit up, empty College Walk on your Zoom screen. But seriously, it should really be a blast! I’m not much of a Zoom partier myself, but I’ll be sure to tune in.

Student Services Representative Zoe Davidson (CC ’24) along with Class of 2024 VP Kathan Reddy and Shelly Michael (CC ’22) have finalized the Student Services Guide, which will be published before finals! Think of this as the one-stop-shop for all things that Columbia provides to students that one might not know about or know how to go about getting. Given the remote nature of the year, this guide will be extremely helpful for new students who began their time at Columbia under virtual circumstances. 

Race and Ethnicity Representatives have been keeping busy, with Representative Citalli Contreras-Sandoval (CC ’21) proactively meeting with the Office of Multicultural Affairs to discuss the impact on Harlem of having a large number of students living there and with more expected to move-in in the spring. She also is working on the housing equity project for the spring. Representative Colby King (CC ’22) met with the University Senate to discuss and narrow down the Senate Committee on Race’s agenda items for the upcoming semester. He also continued to pursue his efforts to add a Religious Life Representative to CCSC by meeting with the Office of Religious Life, which went positively. 

EBoard members VP Policy Rads Mehta (CC ’22) and VP Finance Sophia Adeghe (CC ’22), after a semester full of dedication to the project, have successfully finalized and received administrative approval for the CCSC-sponsored COVID Resource Fund! This is a fund that will provide students in need currently studying remotely everything from WiFi extenders, WiFi modems, iPads, webcams, printers, ink, headphones, to winter and professional clothing. The idea is to provide students with items needed to academically succeed that they would have had access to if they had living on campus. This is a separate fund from the Dean’s Assistance Fund, as it was created by CCSC’s surplus budget, but is a similar idea in that these “gifts” will not impact financial aid, as there is a $600 value cap for each student. The requests will be submitted via a Google Form, which will be made public shortly, and each form submission is per item, not per student. In other words, if you need both a printer and printer ink, you would need to be submitting two request forms. Each person’s request will be on a case-by-case basis and eligibility for gift approval is determined by a detailed set of criteria. This is a major accomplishment for CCSC and specifically VP’s Mehta and Adeghe as they invested much of their time to Zoom meetings with administrators to make this possible!      

VP Communications Krishna Menon (CC ’22) and VP Adeghe also pursued the task of ensuring that there would be dining services available for students in need that are staying on campus during winter break. VP Menon met with Dean Kromm to discuss the large issue of feeding people over the break, and VP Adeghe had a meeting with Scott Wright to inquire about the possibility of using CCSC’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Fund to ensure easy access to food for those who will need it during the break.

Take care of yourselves! Prioritize time for self-care during finals! Wear masks! Look at pretty lights! Eat cookies!

Image via Bwog Archives