Audre Lorde Week 2026
Hosted by CC/SEAS Multicultural Affairs and supported by the Undergraduate Community Initiative, this week-long series honors the life, work, and teachings of Audre Lorde LS'60 and takes place annually during her birthday week. Programs and activities invite students to reflect on her writings and words as well as to engage with and apply her philosophies as actualized ways of being in community with each other.
Saturday, Feb. 14 / 10:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.
Join Multicultural Affairs for one of two tours of local bookstores that center social justice education, liberatory texts, and underrepresented stories.
Register for Tour de Bookstore – Romance
Register for Tour de Bookstore – Resistance
MetroCards will be provided / Limited space / Open to Columbia College, Engineering and General Studies undergraduates.
“I write because I am a warrior and my poetry is my primary weapon.”
Tuesday, Feb 17–Thursday, Feb. 19 / 12:00 p.m.–1:30 p.m.
Lerner Ramps
Stop by Lerner Ramps to send a free “Radical Love”-gram to a friend, staff member, partner, or yourself! Or contribute to our community ALW 2026 community art project centered on affirmations.
“We have to consciously study how to be tender with each other until it becomes a habit because what was native has been stolen from us...But we can practice being gentle with ourselves by being gentle with each other. We can practice being gentle with each other by being gentle with that piece of ourselves that is hardest to hold . . . ”
Wednesday, Feb. 18 / 12:00 p.m.–1:30 p.m.
Audre Lorde Community Space (Lerner 505)
In this hands-on workshop, we’ll explore zines as a medium of expression, liberation, and resistance. While learning more about the history and significance of zines, make your own!
Facilitated by Barnard Zine Library.
Open to all students. Registration is encourage to reserve your spot, but not required.
“Poetry is not only dream and vision; it is the skeleton architecture of our lives. It lays the foundations for a future of change, a bridge across our fears of what has never been before.”
Wednesday, Feb. 18 / 6:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m.
Lerner Hall, Room 555
During a time of general uncertainty, and a longing for togetherness, join us for an evening filled with community, refreshments, and joy as we celebrate Audre’s birthday!
At this Bridgerton-inspired birthday “gayla” and QTPOC & friends social, we encourage you to come wearing your Regency-era finest!
Open to all students, advanced registration encouraged but not required.
“And that deep and irreplaceable knowledge of my capacity for joy comes to demand from all of my life that it be lived within the knowledge that such satisfaction is possible.”
Thursday, Feb. 19 / 6:30 p.m.–8:00 p.m.
John Jay Lounge
Dinner and Dialogue facilitated by the student facilitators of ROOTED (Respecting Ourselves and Other Through Empathy & Dialogue). Part of the ROOTED Dialogue Series, this event invites all members of the Columbia community to engage in dynamic, peer-led dialogues about identity, oppression, and social responsibility. Dialogues in this series explore aspects of the Columbia experience through interactive techniques including reflective exercises, role-playing, literature, experiential exercises, games, videos and more. Through a variety of activities, students learn communication and conflict resolution strategies to find healthy ways to talk about differences and building a socially responsible community.
Open to all students. Registration is encouraged to reserve your spot, but not required.
“But for every real word spoken, for every attempt I had ever made to speak those truths for which I am still seeking, I had made contact with other women while we examined the words to fit a world in which we all believed, bridging our differences.”
Friday, Feb. 20 / 12:30 p.m.—4:30 p.m.
This annual summit brings together student leaders who are committed to creating a just community, building coalitions, and the healing and liberation of all people. Hear from current student leaders who actively embody Radical Love in their community-centered work, and explore ways we can all bring hope, possibility, care, and action to our campus community. Open to all undergraduate students.
Come to one or all of the sessions:
12:30 p.m.
Encouraging Questions: What is Radical Love? Why Radical Love? (Facilitated by Multicultural Affairs Student Coordinators)
1:00 p.m.
Actively Listening & Learning: Join an interactive simulation exploring intercultural (mis)communication and connections (Facilitated by Global Ambassador Program coordinators)
2:00 p.m.
Challenging Injustice (Facilitated by Intercultural House residents)
3:00 p.m.
Deepening Connections: Learn how intergenerational connections and mentorship can facilitate care for self and community (Facilitated by Columbia Mentoring Initiative family tree chairs)
4:00 p.m.
Enacting Possibility: Bringing Radical Love to Our Community (Facilitated by Multicultural Affairs Student Coordinators)