Common Ground was an alternative newspaper created for the Barnard and Columbia communities, with the hope of building coalition among progressive or radical student groups on campus. The editorial board included students from the Barnard Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action Network, the Barnard Organization of Black Women, and Lesbian Activists at Barnard, among others. Common Ground's first issue contained editorials on a topics such as Columbia University's ties to the military industrial complex and the ramifications of the Human Life Amendment, as well as a calendar of upcoming activist events, and a listing of progressive student groups and their meeting times and locations.