Tag: Giving Day

Giving Day is back at Columbia. Can We Beat the Law School and Support Future Artists?

Columbia FilmFor the second year, Columbia University has designated a special day to help raise student support funds. They call it “Giving Day,” and all the various schools and programs are competing to get a share of matching funds from the University. This year it’s Wednesday, October 23rd.

Why should you care? It should come as no surprise that financing graduate school at a major university is an expensive proposition. But the students who come to Columbia are some of the brightest lights in a world that needs talented storytellers more than ever.

The results are clear. Our alums are working in just about every aspect of the film and television businesses in the U.S. and all over the world. It would be easy to shout out the names of our most famous alums, but that would miss the point. The point is that the skill and talent necessary to create great art is not necessarily linked to economic riches. This is a point that seems to be more accepted in other countries than here, where success seems to be inextricably linked to Hollywood. Continue reading “Giving Day is back at Columbia. Can We Beat the Law School and Support Future Artists?”

Columbia Giving Day. Join in the Fun and Help Support Our Students.

Columbia University has designated October 24th as “Giving Day.” It has set up a competition among all the schools that make up the University, backing it with up to $400,000 in matching funds. All of the funds will go to student support.

In case you didn’t know, attending an MFA program at a major university like Columbia is a very expensive proposition, made even more so by the fact that our film students create their own productions while they are learning their craft. Students in Columbia’s Film Program make an enormous commitment to attend, in the belief that what we offer is well worth the price. We owe it to them to do whatever we can to ease that burden.

Let me just say that competing with the Business School or the Law School to raise money seems quixotic at best. But I’m a Cubs fan. What can I say? To quote a certain current President, every small contribution matters. As little as $10 can make a difference. Can you help us out?

All you have to do is go to:

https://givingday.columbia.edu/

Just make sure you click on “School of the Arts” (It’s the very last school in the drop down list). Then on the next page, designate “Film” as the fund you want to support.

Let’s show those other schools that people still care about the arts enough to support them.