Chang Chavkin Center Awarded $218,750 Solon E. Summerfield Foundation Grant
L–R: Max Botstein, Roosevelt Montás, and Jessica Lee. Photo by Rachel Crittenden
The Chang Chavkin Center for Liberal Education and Civic Life at Bard College has been awarded a grant from the Solon E. Summerfield Foundation. The three-year grant, in the amount of $218,750, will support a partnership between the Chang Chavkin Center and the Freedom and Citizenship Program at Columbia University. The Chang Chavkin Center, founded in 2026, brings together faculty and programs committed to a shared vision of liberal education and works to promote this vision at institutions across the country. Freedom and Citizenship introduces dedicated low-income and first-generation high school seniors to college-level work in the humanities and prepares them for lives of active, informed citizenship.
“Our programs invite students into sustained conversations about freedom, justice, and equality by engaging directly with the powerful ideas and enduring questions that shape civic life. We cannot allow this kind of education to be restricted only to those who can afford it,” said Jessica Lee, associate director of the Chang Chavkin Center. “This grant ensures that motivated students can participate regardless of their financial circumstances.”
Founded in 2009 by Columbia’s Center for American Studies, Freedom and Citizenship is the original and flagship program of Knowledge for Freedom (KFF), a network of campus programs dedicated to introducing high school students to the personally transformative power of liberal education. Through rigorous study of transformative texts, community-based civic projects, and sustained college mentorship, KFF programs prepare students for a free and reflective life. The Chang Chavkin Center at Bard College now serves as the institutional home of Knowledge for Freedom, supporting the growth and long-term sustainability of more than 30 programs nationwide.
The grant will provide stipends to low-income students in Freedom and Citizenship, removing the economic barriers that might otherwise prevent them from participating in the program’s residential summer seminar and year-round civic leadership and college access curriculum. By ensuring that financial need is not an obstacle to participation, the grant extends the program's reach to the students who stand to benefit the most.
The award also reflects a deepening relationship between the Chang Chavkin Center and Freedom and Citizenship, as they prepare to launch a formal Columbia-Bard partnership program. The partnership will secure leadership continuity, broaden student experiences by drawing on the distinct strengths of both campuses, and stabilize the program through coordinated fundraising. The partnership will also offer students the combination of both a horizon-broadening residential experience at a small liberal arts college, and accessible year-round programming at a major urban research university. By exposing students to contrasting academic settings, the goal of this partnership is to enrich students’ understanding of college life. These changes aim to ensure that Freedom and Citizenship not only endures, but is able to offer ever more robust support for the next generation of participants.
Since its inception in 1929, the Solon E. Summerfield Foundation has championed and supported nonprofit organizations dedicated to the holistic development of underserved children and youth. The foundation engages in grant partnerships in the NYC-Metro area that seek to transform systems and pathways of opportunity so that young people most impacted by social, racial, and economic injustice can live choice-filled lives.
Post Date: 05-06-2026
“Our programs invite students into sustained conversations about freedom, justice, and equality by engaging directly with the powerful ideas and enduring questions that shape civic life. We cannot allow this kind of education to be restricted only to those who can afford it,” said Jessica Lee, associate director of the Chang Chavkin Center. “This grant ensures that motivated students can participate regardless of their financial circumstances.”
Founded in 2009 by Columbia’s Center for American Studies, Freedom and Citizenship is the original and flagship program of Knowledge for Freedom (KFF), a network of campus programs dedicated to introducing high school students to the personally transformative power of liberal education. Through rigorous study of transformative texts, community-based civic projects, and sustained college mentorship, KFF programs prepare students for a free and reflective life. The Chang Chavkin Center at Bard College now serves as the institutional home of Knowledge for Freedom, supporting the growth and long-term sustainability of more than 30 programs nationwide.
The grant will provide stipends to low-income students in Freedom and Citizenship, removing the economic barriers that might otherwise prevent them from participating in the program’s residential summer seminar and year-round civic leadership and college access curriculum. By ensuring that financial need is not an obstacle to participation, the grant extends the program's reach to the students who stand to benefit the most.
The award also reflects a deepening relationship between the Chang Chavkin Center and Freedom and Citizenship, as they prepare to launch a formal Columbia-Bard partnership program. The partnership will secure leadership continuity, broaden student experiences by drawing on the distinct strengths of both campuses, and stabilize the program through coordinated fundraising. The partnership will also offer students the combination of both a horizon-broadening residential experience at a small liberal arts college, and accessible year-round programming at a major urban research university. By exposing students to contrasting academic settings, the goal of this partnership is to enrich students’ understanding of college life. These changes aim to ensure that Freedom and Citizenship not only endures, but is able to offer ever more robust support for the next generation of participants.
Since its inception in 1929, the Solon E. Summerfield Foundation has championed and supported nonprofit organizations dedicated to the holistic development of underserved children and youth. The foundation engages in grant partnerships in the NYC-Metro area that seek to transform systems and pathways of opportunity so that young people most impacted by social, racial, and economic injustice can live choice-filled lives.
Post Date: 05-06-2026