Politics, Activism and Advocacy

Students for Sanctuary strives to mobilize Columbia students to take action in the fight for immigration justice and reform.

A Marxist reading group.

The “Doctors Without Borders” Student Chapter at Columbia University is an interdisciplinary organization dedicated to advocacy and the principles of humanitarian medicine. We aim to advance medical ethics and improve access to healthcare. In our chapter we will advocate for and support a variety of humanitarian crises, such as refugee interests, minority and women’s rights, environmental justice, mental health, and more, both on and off campus.

We are the Columbia-Barnard branch of the Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA), the student & campus section of the largest and fastest-growing socialist organization in the U.S. Our aim is to organize to build our collective power and win material improvements for students and workers, as well as to create spaces for political education and to contribute to broader movements against capitalism, oppression, and for collective liberation.

Columbia Synapse is a New York City-based service organization guided by principles of neuroscience, community, and advocacy for the community of individuals with brain injury and other invisible disabilities. The group draws on a wide network of resources from the City’s hospital systems to organize a diverse portfolio of programs that cultivate a community for individuals with acquired brain injury (ABI) and a greater understanding of brain injury for Columbia University and New York City.

One for the World Columbia is a student-run philanthropy group founded in Spring 2017 as a constituent part of One for the World, with the express goal of combating extreme poverty in the developing world.

Student Advocates for the Arts (SAA) is a student-run club for learning about and participating in arts advocacy. Founded in 2002 by graduate students in the Arts Administration Program at Teachers College, Columbia University, SAA engages students in hands-on lobbying, workshops on advocacy and cultural policy, and discussions on the American system for funding the arts.

Aryeh is Columbia University’s pro-Israel public affairs committee that aims to engage the campus community about Israel by providing Columbia students with diverse opportunities to connect with Israel including cultural, academic, political, and philanthropic programming

The Jewish Activist Collective is a group meant to bring together both conversation and action around social issues. We believe it is our Jewish imperative to seek justice and pursue it. As part of JAC one will be able to take the time to learn and understand a cause, participate in some form of text-based learning to give a Jewish backbone to our action, and participate in a form of action where we will be walking along as allies.

J Street CU is part of a student-driven network of Pro-Israel, Pro-Palestine, Pro-peace activists organizing on campuses across North America for peace, security and social justice in Israel, the future state of Palestine and across the Middle East.