Congressman Charles Rangel, left, with President George Rupp.

Despite bone-chilling winds and freezing rain, more than 1,000 volunteers from the Columbia community and their neighbors from the surrounding communities gathered on a recent Saturday in March to clean parks, renovate buildings, repaint school classrooms and work at other projects during the fourth annual Columbia Community Outreach, a student-organized event. U.S. Representative Charles Rangel gave opening remarks, followed by keynote speaker Evan Davis, president of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and clerk of the Trustees at Columbia.