This academic year welcomed the inaugural cohort of Displaced Student Scholars. The Displaced Student Scholarship is open to students from 19 of Columbia’s graduate and undergraduate schools and provides 30 refugees and displaced students each year with the ability to attend Columbia at no financial cost.

In her four years at Columbia, Anjali Verma, SEAS ’21, has been a vocal advocate for marginalized groups on campus—she is the co-founder of Spectra: Society for Diversity and Inclusion in Physics, as well as a lead organizer for Mobilized African Diaspora. Her time and impact on Columbia’s campus have been defined by a commitment to uplifting marginalized voices and raising concerns about the state of diversity and inclusion in the various spaces controlled by the University.

Columbia and the Graduate Workers of Columbia-United Auto Workers have spent the past two years at the bargaining table, negotiating issues of compensation, neutral arbitration, childcare benefits, and more. As of Monday, over 3,000 GWC-UAW student workers are officially on strike until a labor contract can be agreed upon between the union and the University. Among the 23 tentative agreements already reached between Columbia and the GWC-UAW is one on how the university will subsidize and support caregivers.

In response to claims that Harlem is overburdened by drug-addiction rates and overdoses, a methadone clinic is being built on 145th Street and Amsterdam Avenue in West Harlem. However, community members argue that this clinic is not needed in the area.