Student Organizations at Barnard
One of my favorite parts of the Barnard/Columbia student experience is the sheer amount of opportunities we have. Not only can we choose from a practically countless number of courses each semester, but we also have a huge variety of clubs and student organizations to join. In addition to clubs being a great way to make new friends, they also allow you to join a network of people with shared interests. For example, it wasn’t until I joined computer science clubs on campus that I really started to love the industry. I was able to talk to upperclassmen about opportunities I should take on and how to take advantage of the resources available to me. These are a few of my favorite clubs on campus, but a complete list of Barnard and Columbia’s student organizations are available at: https://barnard.edu/student-organizations & https://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/learn/studentlife/activities. There are even more clubs that are not officially recognized but still hold events throughout the year.
Superposition Columbia is one of the newer clubs on campus dedicated to providing STEM (particularly tech) opportunities to those who identify as woman, non-binary, and/or gender minorities. It is one of the chapters of the parent organization Superposition that has a similar mission in bridging the gender gap in STEM. As director of media, I am in charge of managing, creating and planning the content for all social media. Superposition Columbia has many exciting events such as recruitment panels, TedTalk-style speaker talks, and a segment on their Instagram story called “Hear Her Voice” that showcases and empowers women to share their experiences being in the STEM industry.
Women in Computer Science (WiCS) is another club dedicated to supporting women in computer science by coordinating events such as professor lunches and collaborations with Girls Who Code. They also hold workshops, panels and career help while collaborating with other CS groups on campus. Students can be a part of the executive board, be a part of the event coordinating team, or just stop by to attend events as a member.
McAC stands for the McIntosh Activities Council and is a part of Barnard’s governing board. They are in charge of planning and organizing traditional events on campus. Students can choose to be a part of one of the five different committees: Action, Community, Mosaic, Network and Wellness. I am a part of the network committee that is focused on facilitating networking and building closer relationships between students and faculty through coffee chats and an annual awards dinner called Emily Gregory to celebrate our favorite professors.