President's-Task-Force

Over 100 Columbia faculty members signed a petition in support of the Extinction Rebellion hunger strikers and their demands to declare a climate emergency, reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, and divest from fossil fuel companies by 2025. Extinction Rebellion further calls upon the University to form an assembly of representatives from surrounding communities and University stakeholders in order to address greenhouse gas emissions.

University President Lee Bollinger addressed the impact of Manhattanville expansion on the West Harlem community, the University’s plans to address climate change, and the importance of differing viewpoints on college campuses with regards to free speech during his semesterly fireside chat on Tuesday.

As dozens of students lined up to question members of Columbia’s newly formed Climate Change Task Force at the student town halls this week, many highlighted the urgency for student involvement in conversations around how the University addresses climate change.

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.

Columbia’s Earth Institute has begun collaborations with global investment management firm AllianceBernstein to create a new environmentally conscious curriculum for portfolio managers. AllianceBernstein will also be serving as lead sponsor to the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory’s annual open house on Oct. 5.

Columbia will establish two new task forces in the coming year to address climate change and how the University can serve humanity on a larger scale, University President Lee Bollinger announced in an email Thursday afternoon.

At the third town hall held by the Mental Health Task Force, a sparsely populated crowd discussed ways in which the Berick Center for Student Advising could better serve the needs of students by increasing adviser advocacy on the behalf of their students and implementing a nonrandom system of adviser assignment.

The Columbia University Mental Health Task Force hosted its second-ever town hall event Wednesday evening to hear from students about mental health and academic pressure as part of the task force’s ongoing effort to propose new policies to the administration.