Community Engagement

Student Life creates spaces for students to engage with peers both formally and informally outside of the classroom. Community Programs specifically looks at ways we can bring the Barnard community together to celebrate & collaborate. We also are continuously looking for opportunities to grow to provide spaces and resources for specific student communities, as well as for our campus wide community. Specific initiatives include:

• Hosting small and large-scale programs that focus on self-care, community support, and connecting students to Student Life.  

• Serving as the agent for Millie the Bear. Interested in having her at your event? Complete the Millie request form.

• Providing accessible means for students to experience NYC through discounted tickets to events through Barnard Box Office and free trips through the Urban NY lottery.

Barnard BLUE (Building Leadership & Understanding Equity) Summit
Friday, March 23rd through Sunday, March 25th
 
In collaboration with Well Womman, Student Life hosts an off-campus, weekend retreat that embodies a holistic approach to leadership, exploring how our multiple identities and experiences shape our development as leaders. It is open to all Barnard students and helps foster a sense of community by focusing on personal growth, identity exploration, and building meaningful connections with others. The Summit will be from 11:00am, Friday, March 23 through 1:30pm, Sunday, March 25 (please apply only if you can commit to attend the entire summit). 
 
To apply, visit:  http://bit.ly/BLUESummit2018.
For more information, please email:
Emy Cardoza (ecardoza@barnard.edu)

Grace Lee Boggs '35 once said: “We urgently need to bring to our communities the limitless capacity to love, serve, and create for and with each other.”

As a Barnard community, we come together in moments of celebration and support each other during times of struggle and growth. Barnard Bold intends to recognize students and student organizations that embody the dedication to community that Grace Lee Boggs exemplifies. 

The award categories showcase a range of causes for which students and organizations can be recognized for their approach, contributions, and impact. This year's recipients are being celebrated and highlighted for the following awards:

Bold Award for Coalition Building

• Demonstrates outstanding and consistent dedication to coalition building on or off campus.
• Facilitates the bringing together of communities/groups with intentionality.
• Generates cross-collaboration project for the enrichment of educational outcomes or heightened sense of awareness and intersectionality of issues/causes.

Bold Award for Dedication to Intersectional Feminism

• Contributes toward raising consciouness around gender identity and expression, gender equality, and women's issues on/off campus.
• Advocates for women's rights and gender equality on/off campus.
• Encourages and practices intersectional and inclusive feminism.

Bold Award for Scholar Activism

• Conducts scholarly work that interrogates social justice principles.
• Introduces innovative approaches to dialogue and reflection.
• Connects theoretical frameworks to practice espousing social justice principles.

Bold Award for Dedication to Community Care + Uplift

• Focuses on creating a more caring and healthy campus community.
• Demonstrates acts of resilience in face of adversity.
• Recognized for their work around community healing, self-care, and self-advocacy practices.

Bold Award for Visionary + Radical Leadership

• Demonstrates thoughtful and effective leadership.
• Does trailblazing work that has impacted both the Barnard community and beyond.
• Shows ingenuity and radical approach to addressing institutional and systematic issues affecting the on/off campus community.
• Shifts the paradigm and understanding of conventional leadership to one that serves the known needs of the community.

Bold Award for Environmental Justice

• Conducts outstanding work toward identifying and addressing environmental problems that have a disproportionately adverse effect on marginalized communities.
• ​​​​​​​Contributes to a better understanding of environmental health problems.
• Encourages on/off campus communities to become involved in environmental justice causes.

To register visit: https://www.cc-seas.columbia.edu/engagement/urbanNY

Urban New York is a university-wide program designed to expose students to the sights and sounds of New York City by offering them FREE admission to events and programs in the area. These free tickets are available only to first-year and transfer students in the fall, but are open to the entire undergraduate population in the spring. Past events include a variety of Broadway shows including Chicago, Matilda, and The Lion King; dinner at Cavo with live bellydancing, Dark Dining at Camaje, and other NYC hot spots; sporting events like Knicks games; and Metropolitan and City Opera performances. 

Urban New York is supported by generous contributions from the Columbia College Class of 1954, Columbia College, The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, and Barnard College. Approximately 450 free tickets to various events in the metropolitan area are available to undergraduate students of these schools.

Students will receive notice as to their results (ticket winner, wait list, or non-winner.)

Each student can only win one ticket throughout their time at Barnard & Columbia. If you win a ticket, regardless of whether or not you show up for the event, you will not be able to enter into future lotteries. However, you remain eligible to attend events through the stand-by process. 

Didn't win tickets? No worries! You can always show up to the meeting time and place of any of the exciting events listed below and try to wina stand-by ticket. Be sure to show up early and check-in with the Urban NY trip leader for a chance. Stand-by tickets are not guaranteed. Questions? Email Allie Emmerich at aemmerich@barnard.edu. 

She’s bold, she’s playful, she’s furry, and rumor has it that she has some of the best dance moves around town! This magical being is better known as Millie the Dancing Bear. Millie helps spread school spirit, is the center of attention at student events posing for selfies and group photos, and is, of course, always willing to lend a hug. Students’ reactions to Millie are quite varied - some giggle and wave hello, some scream and run into hiding, some ask all of the questions possible to figure out who wears the costume, and others run towards her in excitement and with much Barnard pride.

Millie is named in honor of Barnard’s first President Millicent McIntosh and has been around in mascot form for over 15 years. Millie is a highly regarded member of the Barnard community and is probably the closest thing we have to tapping for a secret honor society. Perhaps not the best analogy but it is in fact a tip top secret. Before her appearances Millie needs to find the perfect, secluded place to go from their normal being and transform into full Millie character -- no talking, no laughing, just all dancing!

Millie’s popularity and significance knows no bounds. She is requested to attend major campus events, gets to wear all the cool t-shirts, and has a manager who makes sure she gets the treats and giveaways at every event.  To be Millie is an honor for those who get selected and her reveal is much anticipated at every year’s graduation when members of the graduating class wonder if the Millie of their Barnard experience is also one of their classmates. Millie had a fairly noticeable transformation when she had to undergo a major do-over in Fall 2016. So, if you are pre Class of 2020 Millie might look differently than when you first met her. Please be kind...she's still trying to get used to her new look.

So where can you find Millie? Millie tries to participate in large campus traditions and has joined in on the sandwich madness at Big Sub, takes pictures with fun props at Founders Day, warms up with blankets and hot cocoa during WinterFest, dances around the Benefits Fair, and enlivens the frigid crowd waiting to get into Midnight Breakfast this past Fall. If you still have not met her, be sure to keep an eye out for a friendly bear walking around campus from time to time. If are having an event and want her to join please complete this request form at least 2 weeks in advance.

Check out this article in the Barnard magazine to learn more about Millie!