TC Resources: All Gender Restrooms, Meditation Room, Lactation Rooms

All Gender Restroom Facilities

The College has 10 All Gender Restroom Facilities.
These rooms are located in the following locations:

528 West 121st St. Ground Floor (2) - accessible restrooms

Macy Ground Floor (2)

Grace Dodge 5th Floor

Horace Mann 1st Floor (by HM 152)

Horace Mann 2nd Floor (by HM 240)

Horace Mann 3rd Floor (by HM 334)

Thompson 1st Floor (2) (by TH 136)

These facilities are single restrooms and are designated with a sign on the door (also in braille).

"Bathrooms are meant for individual use.
For privacy please lock the door."

Meditation Room

Access to the Teachers College Meditation Room:

Teachers College is providing a quiet and semi-private room where members of the Teachers College community can meditate, reflect, and engage in mindfulness practice. 

To access the room, place your palm on the door lock to activate it - it should light up.  Put in the access code and the door should open (Please do not share this code, but instead ask others interested in using the room to e-mail tcmeditationroom@tc.columbia.edu).

While we require that you always make a reservation to use the Meditation Room on the TC Apps Meditation Room calendar, you can still drop in if necessary, as long as you record your use of the room on the calendar EVERY TIME you use it. We need to track the room’s usage for your safety.  Individuals who reserve time on the calendar have priority for using the room during their reserved time. 

Scheduling Guidelines:

• Select the time you want to reserve (make sure to select your preferred duration) 
• Please use your UNI as the Event Name so that other users of the room, and the room’s administrator, can contact you directly if there are scheduling questions.
• A maximum of six individuals are allowed to occupy the Meditation Room at the same time. 
• You may set up a recurring schedule, but please limit your reservations to one month in advance.
• Please respect other people’s schedules. Do not remove or delete them.
• If you will not be using the room during a time when you have made a reservation, please delete the reservation from the calendar immediately 

Other Guidelines:

• The smooth functioning of the meditation room requires respectful use of the calendar and the room itself.  Please be mindful of your fellow users.
• Remove and place your shoes on the rack.
• Return mats after use.
• Keep mobile devices on silent
• Leave the room better than you found it

Inappropriate Activities:

• Studying
• Sleeping
• Entering with or consuming food or beverages
• Littering
• Playing music
• Conversation /Talking on the phone

Lactation room

Lactation Room Information and Guidelines

Teachers College is committed to supporting breastfeeding mothers – students, faculty, and staff. In addition to ensuring that the regulations above are enforced, there is a dedicated lactation room – a clean, private place where members of the community who are nursing can express milk.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that mothers breastfeed exclusively for their baby’s first six months of life and continue breastfeeding through their baby’s first year of life. New York State Labor Law § 206-C requires that employers allow working women to use unpaid break time or paid meal time to nurse their babies or express milk for up to three years after the birth of their child. It also requires employers to provide a reasonable space where an employee can express milk in privacy and prohibits employers from discriminating against an employee who exercises this right.

In addition to providing a dedicated lactation room, TC has worked with the Office of Work/Life at Columbia University to provide access to other supports, including the discounted purchase of breast pump accessories and access to the private lactation rooms across Columbia campuses. In order to support breastfeeding mothers and to ensure that we are responsibly allowing for the rights afforded to them under New York Labor Law, we have a streamlined system for getting access to, and scheduling time in the Lactation Rooms.

For maps of location and to request access, please click here.