Student Union & Leadership Development Center
Under Construction

One of our campaign promises was the establishment of a safe space for students to develop their organizing skills and learn how to become leaders. More generally, we promised to reclaim student space.

Today, we're thrilled to announce that USG has just voted to designate a space for this purpose!

The upcoming Student Union and Leadership Development Center will be equipped with resources and materials for students to become involved in the work we're doing in USG, as well as the tools necessary to become effective advocates for themselves, our school, and our communities.

The student union center will be open to all students and it will feature a mural (commissioned for the Winter), a small community library for research, an exhibition of student art, and a lot more!

Free CUNY
Statement of Support

Students from across CUNY have revamped a grassroots campaign for a tuition-free and fully-funded CUNY. This month, they've organized multiple discussions, sign-making events, and rallies to advance this important cause. On October 19th, the Free CUNY coalition of students, alumni, and faculty rallied at the CUNY Board of Trustees hearing to demand an end to tuition, an end to the dismantlement of ethnic studies programs and departments, as well as call for better working conditions for adjunct faculty in CUNY.

The Undergraduate Student Government of the City College of New York supports these efforts and encourages all students to participate in the movement for a better CUNY — because a better CUNY is possible.

A few weeks ago, USG co-sponsored the Student Power Summit organized by the CUNY Rising Alliance, which primarily lobbies the State of New York for better conditions in CUNY.

Follow Free CUNY and the CUNY Rising Alliance for more information
 

Saving Cohen Library
Message from a Library Student-Worker

It is no secret that the Cohen Library is a fundamental part of life at CCNY, shown by the large amount of regular traffic we have seen over the years. However, the Cohen Library has been subject to a storm of scrutiny and misrepresentation by the general public due to our crumbling infrastructure and sanitation issues.

For years, our library has been held to a minimal standard by the administration, which considers "business as usual" the fact that students' daily experience is marked bedbug bites, dust inhalation, leaking ceilings that damage books, broken furniture, and vermin infestation, to name just a few of the problems.

While we understand students' dissatisfaction and commiserate with them, we ask for your support in fixing these issues. This not only means abiding by our "no food rule" and our loan policies, but also using your voice to raise awareness about the systematic underfunding that drives these issues to a boiling point.

Next time you're in the library, please remember to be mindful of the ways you treat our shared space by cleaning up after yourself. All we want is to create an environment for you to be comfortable in and a place you can be proud to call your local library.

Your Fees, for What?
Help us Improve Student Life

Anyone who has attempted to start a club or organize an event on campus has dealt with the Department of Student Life and Leadership Development (Student Life). A day doesn't go by that we don't hear from club leaders who're frustrated that event requests must be made 24 business days in advance, or that event requests are denied on short notice, or that they must wait until next year to register a club. While Student Life does organize some great events for itself throughout the year, there are hundreds of student clubs on campus that have to go through a beaurocratic maze before organizing events that often contribute just as much to our community.

Every semester, you pay between $43 and $65 to fund clubs, student government, athletics, student events and initiatives, as well as the salaries that keep Student Life operating.

For this reason, USG has been voicing students' concerns about Student Life to the administration for quite some time. Still, students see little to no improvement in the Department.

In light of this, we are now exploring different strategies to ensure Student Life is accountable to students.

While we work to resolve this issue soon, we ask all club leaders to share their grievances with Student Life by completing this survey.

Student money is well spent on student life, not on student headaches.
 

Benny's Food Pantry

On October 15th, the new and improved food pantry opened in Hoffman Lounge. "Benny's Food Pantry", named after the CCNY mascot, stores fresh, canned, and boxed foods. Access to the food pantry is open to all students who struggle to eat throughout their day.

In 2011, a study found that two-out-of-five CUNY students experienced food insecurity at least once that year. The pantry represents an important step in combating hunger on campus, which can have significant effects on students' academic performance.

In the future, the pantry will host cooking demonstrations and other community events.

Benny’s Food Pantry is open Monday through Friday, 10AM—4PM.
If you would like to volunteer please reach out to Charles Ramirez at cramirez1@ccny.cuny.edu or Alyssa Clark at aclark@nypirg.org.

Domestic Violence Awareness Month

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Events that raise awareness about the prevalence of domestic violence in our communities have been taking place thanks to a collaboration between the Office of Diversity And Compliance, Gender Resources, Department of Public Safety, and Students Raising Awareness About Gender-Based Violence.

If you have been in the NAC these past few weeks, for example, you might have seen Project Clothesline in the rotunda. There have also been regular tabling events aimed at educating students about support and services available to survivors of violence.

The largest event takes place on October 24 at 1PM outside of the NAC. To show your support, wear purple and join Public Safety’s Walk Against Domestic Violence in the NAC plaza. Finally, on October 31st at 12PM, the Crime Victims Treatment Center will explain the nature of unhealthy relationships and offer free holistic services to students in NAC 5/108.

Transgender Awareness Week

This month we celebrated International Pronouns Day, an annual event about sharing and respecting personal pronouns. It takes place each year on the third Wednesday of October. Next month we look forward to expanding the conversation during Transgender Awareness Week. Trans awareness week is an import way to advocate for the visibility, protection, dignity, and rights of trans, non-binary and gender-expansive people.

At CCNY, awareness week culminates on November 20 with Transgender Day of Remembrance, an annual observance honoring the victims of the fatal epidemic of anti-transgender violence that disproportionately targets trans women of color. To find out more, please contact the Gender Resources Office (listed below) and/or the LGBTQ Alliance.

Nat Holman Gym Renovation

On Tuesday, Oct. 15, the City College of New York Athletic Department revealed the new court design at Nat Holman Gymnasium prior to the CCNY women's volleyball team's home opener against Sarah Lawrence.  The women's volleyball match was the first event this academic year at the venue, which was closed during the floor installation.

This marks the completion of the first step in a multi-million dollar renovation of the facility. New lighting and a new air-conditioning system were also installed during the first phase.

Tricks and Sweets with USG

USG will be hosting our annual Halloween event catered towards the youth of the Harlem community. “Tricks and Sweets” will take place on Thursday October 31st from 6-9pm in the NAC Ballroom. Neighboring elementary and middle school students have been invited to come enjoy a safe and fun night of activities such as pumpkin carving, face painting, potion making and much more! 

USG also invites City College students to partake in the festivities by volunteering or by bringing their children, young siblings, and/or relatives to join the festivities!

Charity Week

Muslims Give Back
Muslim Student Organization — Women in Islam
Students for Justice in Palestine

Charity week happens every year and it helps create a generation of socially active youth. It’s a volunteer-led effort that happens in 6 countries (US, UK, Canada, Qatar, Australia and South Africa). The ultimate goal is to raise money to donate to children and orphans in need in places like Syria, Yemen, and Gaza.

To get everyone's spirits going, Charity Week is also a competition between Muslim Student Associations from across different campuses to see who raises the most funds.

Some of the activities happening on campus are: an art auction, an open mic, a game night, a sports competition, and tabling every day of the week!

Rooftop Garden

CCNY Green Club

CCNY Green is a student-based club that hosts a variety of agriculture, cooking, and sustainability-related events. They operate on the roof of the Spitzer School Architecture Building in the "The Solar Roofpod", an entry in the 2011 Solar Decathalon. CCNY Green uses the space to: garden, host workshops and speakers, and provide a hangout space during club hours. Along with the numerous amounts of plants that CCNY Green tends to, they also tend to three beehives. Recently they had their Tea, Honey, and Jam event where they extracted the honey from 3 frames from their hives.

Their final event is going to be on Nov. 8th at 4:00 pm at the RoofPod. They will be discussing the steps of preparing the garden for winter and also what they do to prepare their harvest for winter. There will also be a garden session on Nov. 2 to maintain the Roofpod and host a final harvest.