Welcome back to another semester of Zoom CCSC, tune in for inspirational work ethic and exciting political drama through first-hand reporting on your elected officials’ weekly meetings!

The CCSC Zoom meeting was slightly fuller than usual this past Sunday evening, because for the first time everyone was able to attend at 8pm EST! More general body members were able to be on or near campus than last semester, allowing for all general body members to attend the same meeting time each week. Before digging into spring semester projects, CCSC tied up loose ends of last semester’s groundbreaking COVID-related initiatives, in addition to giving credit and praise to those members who dedicated much of their time over the semester and holidays to perfect these programs.

As my loyal readers may remember, the last CCSC meeting of the fall semester was spent listening to representatives from the tuition strike who had come to garner CCSC’s support of their petition. CCSC endorsement of the tuition strike was put to the virtual vote. With five votes in favor, fifteen votes against, and the rest of the thirty two general body members abstaining, the endorsement did not pass. The variety and size of the petition’s demands may have complicated its path to successfully gaining mass support from both individuals and governing bodies. 

VP Communications Krishna Menon (CC ‘22) gave a much earned shout-out to all members of the Inclusion and Diversity Task Force as well as VP Finance Sophia Adeghe (CC ‘22) for their dedicated work which turned the winter meals fund initiative into a reality. Eboard members collaborated with the ID Task Force to successfully provide meals for over a hundred students over the winter break during which dining halls were closed. With logistical help from administration, CCSC was able to transfer donated funds into flex dollars so that low income students lacking access to reliable food sources during the holiday were able to get food from places accepting flex. 

Academic Affairs Representative Zayba Qamar (CC ‘22) along with Transfer Representative Shelly Michael (CC ‘22) spent much of last semester working on their major-specific Peer Mentorship Program, and the mentor sign up is now officially live! CCSC is seeking juniors and seniors eager to volunteer to serve as a mentor for first years and sophomores navigating the unfamiliar terrain of their intended or declared major. There has been plenty of interest expressed by potential mentees in the program, and now mentors are needed to match demand! So if you’re a junior or senior passionate about your major and becoming more involved in the Columbia College community, sign up here! 

Last semester, VP Adeghe and VP Policy Rads Mehta (CC ‘22) devoted a bulk of their time towards navigating the many logistics involved in using CCSC’s Spring 2020 budget surplus to provide students in need items that they would have had access to, if on campus. The Resource Fund, with much help from Undergrad Student Life admin Josh Lucas and Columbia Finance member Jesse Gomes, is officially live and has already approved 500 different requests, and all-in-all funding 220 students. Those requesting support from the Resource Fund are self-identified low-income students, and must submit a form for each individual item requested. Rather than set a monetary cap for gifts given per student, each student may receive three items at most. The fund is expected to run through the end of the fiscal year, or as long as the money lasts, half of which has been used on the hundreds of requests so far. Eboard members have labored tirelessly to make this a possibility, and continue to find solutions to the many inevitable kinks that come with ordering mass amounts of items for hundreds of different people across the country. Congrats and thank you to CCSC for successfully helping hundreds of Columbia students in need of essential and academic resources.

Stay tuned to hear about CCSC’s Spring 2021 plans!

Image via Bwog Archives