Columbia University Cigar Society

Cigar Society founder Jason Deluca, "a psych major and all-around great guy," at right.

The Columbia University Cigar Society was a student group dedicated to "knowledge and appreciation for the world of cigars". The Society's annual "flagship event" involved "charter[ing] a three story party boat with two bars and a dance floor, and take it around the south end of Manhattan right next to the Statue of Liberty".

Though defunct, the group's bright, brief existence is well-documented on its lingering website, which was last updated in 1998.

History

The Cigar Society was founded in 1995 by Jason DeLuca, CC '97. He was succeeded by Chris Tevis, SEAS '01, the Society's second, and possibly last, president.

Between 1995 and 1998 years, the society grew from 15 to about 350 members. Years later, a Bwog commenter posting under the name "Alum" averred that "[i]n the late 90s, just before my time at Columbia, this was one of the most subscribed clubs on campus".

In '98, Tevis posted a "Message from the President" on the Society's website. The message, which is still online, ominously began "Last year was a dark year in the Society," marked by a "lack of coordination, organization, and mostly effort." (To indulge in speculation, this may have had to do with the graduation of DeLuca, who had founded the society and served as its president for all years prior.) Nonetheless, Tevis expected the Society to bounce back, closing with the optimistic note that this new year is "going to have some class". This is the last that was heard from the society.

Possible existence offline

What is ostensibly a Cigar Society poster, noticed by Bwog in 2010.

On October 15, 2010, Bwog found a poster in Dodge—presumably Dodge Fitness Center, given that the second president was a heavyweight rower—for the Society, with all the contact tabs torn off. The poster featured a JFK quote celebrating cigars as a "rebellion against frenzy and insanity"; as a "civilized revolution."

Additionally, the group's old manifesto notes the "fast-paced computer world that we live in today" and the society's goal of "slowing down".

It is therefore possible that the group still exists, but does not maintain a web presence for ideological reasons.

External Links

• The Society's lingering website
• Lots of goofy, endearing photos of the Society
• A post on Usenet's newsgroup alt.smokers.cigars by a Cigar Society member
• The Cigar Society is briefly cited in a book, Women Under the Influence.
• "Varsity Smokes," an article in SMOKE magazine's Spring 1997 issue, on page 138, featuring the Society