Columbia Lion
The Columbia Lion is the university mascot, adopted in 1910. The idea was originally suggested by George Brokaw (CC 1909). [1] However, the Lion motif had been around campus from before, appearing on the roofs of Low Library and other buildings.
In 1928, the Columbia mascot took on a more visible position as the logo for Goldwyn Pictures Corporation, and subsequently MGM after the studio's merger. MGM's lion, "Leo", was the creation of Howard Dietz (CC 1917, J '?), who created it for Goldwyn Pictures while working for the Philip Goodman Advertising Agency[2]. It is said that he was inspired by Columbia's fight song, "Roar, Lion, Roar".
Other appearances of the lion around campus include "The Scholar's Lion," a sculpture outside Havemeyer facing the Business School which was gifted to the university in 2004, and the "Teaching Lion" in Butler Library. A sculpture of the Columbia Lion stands outside Chrystie Field House at Baker Field, a gift of the class of 1899 presented in 1924.
The Lion Mascot
On October 15, 2005 Columbia debuted its revamped college mascot, Roar-ee. Roar-ee beat out other would-be mascots, Hamilton, Hudson, K.C.and J.J..
Roar-ee's unnamed predecessor who bears a suspicious resemblance to Disney's character The Beast.
- == The Lion Logo ==
An AIM Buddy Icon claiming to be a Columbia logo ca. 1930[3]