Names: Cesar Zamudio for President, Maria Estrada for Vice President
Party: Our 20/20 Vision
Bios: Cesar was born in Pereira, Risaralda, Colombia. He moved to the US with his brother and parents when he was five. Since then, Cesar has resided in New Hampshire. In high school, Cesar served as committee chair of his student council’s public relations committee. At Columbia, Cesar works for the Visitors Center and the Columbia Law School. Cesar’s extracurricular activities include: men’s club volleyball, Sigma Nu, Undergraduate Recruitment Committee, and Undocumented Student Initiative.
Hello Class of 2020! My name is Maria Estrada and I am running to be your class Vice-President. I hail from the sunny Miami, FL but I’m originally from Cuba and grew up in Mexico City. For now, I plan to double major in Human Rights and Political Science. I am very honored to have the opportunity to represent such a diverse group individuals. Our 20/20 Vision is to bring our class together. Our top priorities will be to actively hear your concerns, and do our best to cater to your needs.
Platforms: Our aim is to increment diversity amongst the representative body, and ensure that the needs of the student body are heard and effectively carried out. Our party would like to place a large emphasis on the importance of self-care amongst the student body. Once a month, the class council will organize a class-wide study break with the aim to bring us together, and help promote a more relaxed culture. We will also host a class-wide field day in the spring to commemorate the conclusion of our sophomore year. To us, hearing your opinions is our primary priority. In order to achieve this, we will host a monthly town hall meeting where the class will have the chance to speak with its representatives and directly communicate their concerns. Overall, our goal is to foster a sense of community among the class of 2020, and create an environment which fosters individual growth. Furthermore, we want to ensure that everyone is able to take advantage of all Columbia has to offer. Thus, we plan on streamlining an advising process at it relates to major declaration, and creating a database with on-campus work opportunities, extracurricular organizations, and alternative options for class textbooks. We will also address food insecurity during academic breaks, and potentially create a program that raffles off metrocards every month to encourage students to leave the Morningside bubble. This is merely the beginning, we want to hear your voices and ideas. We are here to represent you, to hear you out, and to do our best to meet your demands. Our 20/20 Vision is YOUR vision.
Streamline advising process as it relates to major declaration, improve major shadowing program, CCE internship fair for 2020’s only, introduce campus clubs page, 2020 bimonthly party, more stress relief events, better and cheaper class gear, create alternative options for CC books (e-books, etc.), streamline work opportunities on campus, metrocard funding, address food security after vacations, create a 2020 parent fund.
Names: Siddharth Singh for President, James Ritchie for Vice President 
Party: LionHeart
Bios: Sid has been honoured to serve the Class of 2020 as President this year. Through feedback from numerous members of the 2020 community, he hopes to improve the class environment, create CC’20 spirit, and support mental health initiatives at CPS. As the leader of LionHeart, he hopes to represent the international student body (heralding from England himself) and students of colour communities, as well as all CC’20 students. Having successfully completed many of Lionheart’s original platforms (LGBTQ centre, free tampon/pad initiative, and affordable class apparel), we hope to continue our track record of success on our new platform!
James has felt very proud to serve as the Vice-President for the Class of 2020 this past year. He feels that the best way to represent his class is by participating in the Columbia community in any way he can, through the international, theatrical, and Greek communities and as a tour guide in the Undergraduate Recruitment Committee. He worked hard to plan and carry out the First-Year Masquerade Ball, as well as larger campus life events like Homecoming and Tree Lighting. He’s been a vocal proponent for mental health initiatives and will pursue many more of these policies next year.
Platform: LionHeart would love to continue to pursue our long-term policies established last semester. We feel that our more nuanced understanding and experience of the administration will allow us to further our goals. We hope to continue our commitment to study breaks with free food and giveaways as a way to continue to boost both class spirit, and school spirit as a whole.
1. Mental Health
-address underlying causes of stress culture in line with a preventative approach
-send out regular detailed updates on what CCSC has achieved regarding community health;
-create greater incentives to attend CPS and other general mental health events;
-produce more Stressbusters sessions – not just during midterms and finals season;
-foster a more philanthropic atmosphere through events to give back to the community;
-send weekly emails where we give shout-outs to members of the Class of 2020 who have done great things as well as a nominated person of the week and meme of the week;
-convey student concerns with mental health policy and CPS to the administration in tandem with the Mental Health Task Force
-increase the number of puppy study breaks for students;
– promote relevant stress-relieving apps which have been proven to positively impact our community’s mental health;
2. Building Community
– create new long-lasting traditions to serve the wider Columbia community (e.g. fun charity events, speed-dating, talent show, battle of the bands);
-Increase the number of affordable options for Class of 2020 apparel;
-Be spontaneous! We can’t make the world work as we want it to, so when the opportunity comes for a fun event (great weather), we’re going to be ready to provide it for you!
3. Marginalized students
– plan a number of events beginning with a celebration of the opening of the LGBTQ centre;
– continue to advocate for policies supporting LGBTQ students and students of color, as well as students of other marginalized identities (first-generation, low-income, international);
– continue to improve resources for marginalized students in health services, financial aid, preprofessional advising, and more.
We are underwhelmed by the resources available to students with disabilities and would like to work with them to make Columbia a more welcoming place for all.
4. Networking and career Opportunities
– advocate for more sophomore summer internship opportunities through working with CCE to improve Handshake powered by LionShare;
-provide you with regular updates on jobs specifically for sophomores available at CCE;
-coordinate study breaks with CCE so that we can have fun while pursuing career opportunities.
Finally, we would like to finalize our ongoing initiatives from this year. We are currently in the process of achieving subsidized MTA subway cards for students for academic, professional, and extracurricular purposes and ensuring availability of on-the-go breakfast items (along with more variety and value for your money!). LionHeart would like to continue our successful track record with our new platform for next year.