The Columbia Lion
The Lion (often known as the "Columbia Lion" because of its URL, thecolumbialion.com) is a student blog launched in February of 2013. It's supposed to be like Bwog or Spectrum, but better, and more dedicated to humor. In December 2014, it announced that it was being put up for sale.[1] In January 2015, it was announced that The Lion would be relaunching in Fall 2015 with a new team and new focus.
The Lion was the brainchild of Stephen Snowder, former Spectrum editor, and Jake Davidson, former Online Editor of the Columbia Daily Spectator. Davidson told The Blue and White, "[I]t became clear that Spec was too serious. We just wanted to be weird about it and make weird Columbia jokes"[2].
To protest the fact that many of the candidates in the CCSC 2013 elections were running unopposed, The Columbia Lion ran their own write-in ticket.[3] To no one's surprise, they lost, but received roughly 7% of the vote, the best ever showing by a write-in candidate.[4]
In fall 2013, off the heels of Abby Abrams' investigative reporting about ZBT, the Lion published the details of SAE's hazing violation that ultimately got them kicked off campus.
In spring 2014, the Lion launched a campaign to add a "Sandwich Ambassador" to CCSC, which ultimately succeeded. The first sandwich ambassador was elected in September.
The Lion was parodied by the CUMB in spring 2014 for an anonymous post by a Columbia student claiming to be a male gigolo that went viral. If you google "Sean Augustine-Obi Columbia," several results involving the gigolo still show up.
References
External Links
- The Columbia Lion
- The Columbia Lion's About page
- The blog's Twitter feed
- "Cub Reporters," May 2013, The Blue and White
