CCSC

Vice President for Campus Services Scott Wright described plans for renovating Columbia spaces to better serve marginalized groups, a vision for designing a student-integrated health center, and affordable summer housing at the Columbia College Student Council meeting Sunday evening.

In an effort to support student groups focused on issues faced by marginalized groups, the Columbia College Student Council announced the introduction of the Identity and Diversity Task Force dedicated to discussing and strategizing on identity-based issues on campus at its weekly meeting this Sunday evening.

First-year candidates for the Columbia College and Engineering Student Councils presented platforms dealing with issues of financial accessibility, student engagement with the council, and community outreach in Harlem.

During a packed last meeting of the semester, the Columbia College Student Council discussed the implementation of procedures to remove ineffective representatives, potential changes to club funding allocation based on measures of inclusivity, and the creation of a Bacchanal Governing Board that would include the undergraduate councils in financial decisions made by the Bacchanal Committee.

When I came to Columbia, I laughed at the students who were campaigning for student council. I thought that we had left the days of try-hard, peppy enthusiasm behind us as we entered this mature world where we focused on studies. Looking at those eager students who vigorously campaigned before we even stepped foot onto campus, I was overcome with schadenfreude and perplexity, wondering out loud, “What did I get myself into?”

Last Thursday, the Columbia Elections Commission notified University Senator-elect Heven Haile, CC ’21, that someone had reported her for publicizing a false endorsement from the Columbia University Mental Health Task Force, an offense that could be ruled as a major rules violation according to election policies.

Following a failed motion to impeach the current Columbia College Student Council student services representative for alleged rules violations during this year’s election cycle, four council members—University Senator Alfredo Dominguez, CC ’19, University Senator Toqa Mohamed Badran, CC ’19, Race and Ethnicity Representative Heven Haile, CC ’21, and Vice President for Communications Isabella Lajara, CC ’20—resigned from their current roles during the Sunday night meeting.

The Columbia Elections Board announced results of the Columbia College Student Council election late Saturday night, ending weeks of debate and campaigning for the over 50 candidates who ran for positions on council.