This Week at Columbia: Events & Opportunities (3/19)

Dear Students, 

Help us improve the student experience at Columbia. Complete the LENS Survey by Monday, March 25! Check your inbox for your personalized survey link. 

You will receive a $10 gift card for answering the survey, and your responses will shape the kinds of events and resources available to you and future Columbia students. We’ve extended the deadline so you can still participate. 

And, join us for these upcoming events:

All events below are in Eastern Time, free, and open to all students unless otherwise noted. 

University Life Events & Opportunities

• Reminder: Prepare for the New York Primary. CU Engage encourages all students who are eligible to vote in upcoming primary elections. Saturday, March 23 is the last day to register as a voter, to update your address, or request an absentee ballot for the April 2nd New York Primary. Register to Vote.
• CU Film Showcase: Call for Student Films. Do you have a short film you’d like to share with the Columbia community? The University Life Events Council wants to showcase 2-10 minute films created by Columbia students. Selected films will be shared at the 2024 CU Film Showcase in Lerner Cinema. Submit by TONIGHT, March 19.
• Navigating Networking and Salary Negotiation from a Diversity Lens (Virtual). Learn how to build your network and negotiate your starting salary and benefits with University Life and the Mailman School of Public Health’s Career Services. All graduate and professional students are invited to attend this event, which is part of the Graduate Initiative for Inclusion and Engagement. Thursday, March 21, 11:30 a.m - 12:30 p.m. Register here.
• Virtual Yoga Class. Take a break and relax at this yoga class hosted by Religious Life. Classes will take place virtually, Thursday, March 21 through Thursday, April 5, 7 - 8 p.m. Register here.
• Call for Student Performers. Want to share your cultural traditions or artistic expressions? The University Life Events Council is seeking student performers to share their talent at the 6th annual Dinner with Strangers event on April 10, 2024 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at 50 Haven Avenue (CUIMC Campus). Learn more and apply by Tuesday, March 26.
• International Faculty Roundtable (In-Person). Join us for dinner and conversation, as faculty share their experiences navigating higher education as international scholars, college students, and professionals. This event is part of the Graduate Initiative for Inclusion and Engagement and is co-sponsored by the International Students and Scholars Office and the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) Office of Student Affairs. Monday, March 25, 5 - 6:30 p.m. Register here.
• Attend the CU Film Showcase (In-Person). Lights, camera, action! Join the University Life Events Council for a screening of short films created by students throughout the University community. Thursday, April 4, 7 - 8:30 p.m. Register here.
• Community Lunch (In-Person). Community Impact and Broadway Community invite you to participate in a culinary service opportunity. You'll work alongside Community Lunch's head chef to prepare meals for neighbors in the Morningside Heights community. Want to learn more? Contact: Jonathan Socoy at Community Impact ([email protected]). Extra hands are especially needed Thursday mornings. Thursdays, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. and Fridays, 9 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. & 12 - 2:30 p.m. Sign up. 
• Apply to Become a University Life Ambassador 2024-25! Passionate about building community at Columbia? As a University Life Ambassador, you can help promote a welcoming, inclusive environment for all Columbia students across all campuses. Apply here by Friday, May 10.

Upcoming Campus Conversations
Campus Conversations are part of the Dialogue Across Difference Initiative. 

• Critical Listening Skills (In-Person) Listening, when done with intention, can have a transformative effect on relationships, as well as the climate and culture of organizations. Join us at 50 Haven Ave. on the CUIMC campus for a workshop to build your listening skills. Dinner will be served.  Wednesday, March 20, 5 - 6:30 p.m. and Tuesday, April 2, 5 - 6:30 p.m.
  • Register for March 20. 
  • Register for April 2.
• Navigating Difficult Conversations (In-Person). In this workshop, we ask what makes conversations difficult? And, how can we make them productive? Participants will walk through a step-by-step process to engage in tough conversations with less stress and more success. Join us at 50 Haven Ave. on the CUIMC campus. Dinner will be served. Wednesday, March 27, 5 - 6:30 p.m. and Wednesday, April 17, 5 - 6:30 p.m.
  • Register for March 27.
  • Register for April 17.

• Accessibility, Ableism, and Advocacy (In-Person). This workshop will explore our understanding of disabilities, how ableism works, and how it is all intertwined with our daily work and interactions at Columbia University. Join us on the Morningside Campus for a conversation challenging you to think critically about your own biases. Lunch will be served. Friday, March 29, 2 - 3:30 p.m. Register here.
• LGBTQIA+ Rights & Advocacy (In-Person) Together, we’ll explore our understanding of LGBTQIA+ identities and experiences, the impact of legislation rooted in heteronormativity and cisgenderism, and how it impacts and influences our lives. Join us on the Morningside campus to think critically about your implicit biases. Lunch will be served.  Friday, April 19, 1 - 2:30 p.m. Register here.

Social Justice Mini-Grant Spotlight

• Taylor Rae Almonte-Roman on Teaching in Prisons. In this podcast, Taylor discusses her work teaching in two correctional facilities over the last year, why she focuses her studies and social impact work on mass incarceration, and how she got involved in this work while a student at Columbia. Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Taylor’s website.
• Learn more about all of the 2023-24 Social Justice Mini-Grantees and their projects.

Happening Around Campus

• The Sisterhood: The Secret History of Women at the CIA (In-Person). Author Liza Mundy will share insights from her new book about the women who worked for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and how they shaped the modern landscape of intelligence gathering. Hosted by the Arnold A. Saltzman Institute of War and Peace. Wednesday, March 20, 12 - 2 p.m. Register here. 
• Tales from the Legal Front Line: Philippe Sands in conversation with Monica Hakimi (In-Person). Join two scholars in international law for a conversation about the present-day conflicts in Ukraine and Russia, Israel and Palestine, and the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean (Mauritius and the UK). Hosted by The Italian Academy. Thursday, March 21, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. Register here.
• Decolonizing Gender: Sex/ualities and Performance in South Asia and Its Diaspora (In-Person). This panel discussion will address art and research practices, the diverse ways of being in the world embodied by South Asians, and the stakes and politics of representing those ways of being. Thursday, March 21, 6 - 7:30 p.m. Learn more. 
• Lenfest Kids: Coco (In-Person). Join the Lenfest Center for the Arts for a screening of the movie, Coco – shown in Spanish with English subtitles. This family-friendly event is open to the public. Saturday, March 23, 1 - 2:50 p.m. Register here.
• Music Monday at The Forum: Harlem Chamber Players (In-Person). Join Columbia community members and neighbors for a concert, featuring the Harlem Chamber Players at The Forum. Monday, March 25, 6 - 7 p.m. Register here. 

Take care,

Joseph Defraine Greenwell, Ed.D.

Senior Vice President for Student Affairs
University Life
Gender Pronouns: He/Him/His

Ixchel Rosal

Senior Associate Vice President for Student Life
University Life
Gender Pronouns: She/Her/Hers