We are committed to retaining our international, multilingual, multiracial and multicultural character while representing a diverse and inclusive constituency including many members of the African Heritage Student Association (AHSA), Asian Student Association (ASA), Hispanic and Latinx Association (HALA), Korean-American Ministries (KAM), & the International Student Bible Study. We are committed to accommodating the voices of our fellow marginalized groups and allies at CTS whose vision is of an inclusive learning community that is committed to the challenges and needs of the global church.

We are immigrant students and allies demanding institutional commitment and a culture that promotes intentional equity, diversity, and inclusion of students through policy changes that prevent discrimination and address the needs of students from international contexts.

We acknowledge that Columbia Theological Seminary’s International Student community is diverse, and we acknowledge that we are not univocal. Yet, it is to be noted that a significant majority of immigrant students and faculty at CTS want to reinstate the Office of International Programs and have it filled by an immigrant faculty member who is globally trained and empathetic to the interests of immigrants and international students. There will always be space for disagreement when there is a broad and diverse group of students from across the globe; however, we believe having universal agreement is not possible nor required to bring attention to racially-biased practices that are being called out by a large immigrant community and allies at Columbia.