Community Citizenship Initiative

Welcome to the Community Citizenship Initiative! 

Participation is required for all new students.

September 25 - November 3, 2023

Columbia is guided by a commitment to building and sustaining an environment where everyone can thrive and reach their full potential. As a student, you are an essential partner in fulfilling this commitment, and the Community Citizenship Initiative (CCI) is foundational to  your partnership. CCI is an opportunity for you to learn and better understand your part in upholding Columbia's core values of inclusion & belonging and sexual respect.

The Initiative will help you understand how your choices impact others. CCI will also help you step into your part of this University-wide commitment to communicating and acting with integrity and respect for others, at Columbia and beyond.

About the Community Citizenship Initiative

Columbia launched the Community Citizenship Initiative as a collaboration among students, faculty, and administrators to create a stronger, safer, and better-connected campus community. With these goals in mind, University Life has designed a set of tools and resources for you to learn not only how you can take part in this process, but to feel empowered to create positive change within our community. These learning materials are broken down into two components: Inclusion & Belonging and Sexual Respect.

Participation in both components is required for all new students.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

The Community Citizenship Initiative is a collection of conversations and learning opportunities on topics like the impact of bias, fostering inclusion, resiliency in the face of bias, and sexual respect. The Initiative, which has two components, ensures that these values remain central to community citizenship at the University.

Students, faculty and administrators from across Columbia worked together collaboratively to create the Community Citizenship Initiative. It is updated annually to incorporate student feedback and ensure that the Initiative continually improves and evolves.

Students, faculty and staff created the Community Citizenship Initiative to ensure students have the language, skills and awareness to reinforce our core community values of sexual respect and inclusion & belonging. You can read about the goals of the Sexual Respect component and the Inclusion & Belonging component.

Yes, all students are welcome to participate. If you are new to your school, you will automatically be enrolled. If you are not a first-year student, but are interested in participating, please write to [email protected].