The Engineering Student Council held its first general body meeting of the semester on Zoom.

The meeting began with a presentation from Michael Higgins, co-founder of the Columbia Food Pantry. 

Higgins explained that he and others who were members of GSSC at the time founded the Columbia Food Pantry in 2016. GSSC had conducted a survey that found that 35% of GS students experienced food insecurity at some point in their time at Columbia. The Columbia Food Pantry was founded in response to that survey.

Now, the Columbia Food Pantry has three locations: one in Lerner, one on Barnard’s campus, and one on the medical campus that will be reopening soon. 

Higgins encouraged the council to regularly share information about the food pantry with SEAS students. He noted that SEAS currently has a lower number of students who use the pantry in comparison to the other undergraduate colleges. However, this might just be because students are unaware of the pantry’s existence.

Students looking to learn more about the food pantry can find more information here.

After Higgins’s presentation, the meeting moved on to position updates. VP Policy Angel Mancera (‘23) noted that he and Student Body President Kennedy Salamat (‘23) will be meeting with Dean Morrison to discuss extending the credit limit. Additionally, depending on how the semester goes, council members will assess whether to advocate for another P/D/F policy proposal. 

Mancera also noted that next week the council will vote on the antisemitism resolution presented less semester. He added that the Policy Committee discussed perhaps penning a new ESC statement condemning antisemitism rather than signing on to the presented resolution. He explained that ESC has not historically signed on to resolutions created by external groups, so that is why the council might consider writing their own statement instead. He also mentioned that an ESC statement might be a bit broader and not propose a definition of antisemitism. 

VP Student Life Matthew Wahl shared some events that are in the works for this semester. The Explore NYC Initiative will include trips to Broadway shows, the zoo, and the Statue of Liberty.

There will also be a SEAS Gala Cruise on a heated boat one evening with catered food. 

Lerner via Bwog Archives