Roar-ee the Lion

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Roar-ee the Lion at a Cornell v. Columbia football game, 2018

Roar-ee the Lion is the current incarnation of the Columbia Lion, the official mascot of Columbia University and the Columbia Lions. The Lion was first adopted as the university's mascot in 1910 under the name "Leo Columbiae", and was renamed Roar-ee the Lion in 2005.

History[]

The Columbia Lion, as drawn by Ad Reinhardt for the Jester in 1933. The image was trimmed around the edges in the process of archiving.

The idea of having a lion as the mascot of Columbia was first proposed at the April 5, 1910, meeting of the university Alumni Association by alumnus George Brokaw Compton. Its adoption was not uncontroversial, however. As the Lion, which was named "Leo Columbiae", was chosen in connection with Columbia's other royal imagery, a product of Columbia's colonial past, some considered it a symbol of excessively conservative and a symbol of "servility to British Royalty".[1] The Eagle was floated as a more patriotic alternative, in line with the university's patriotic renaming following American independence: "For Kings College, the Lion, but the Eagle for Columbia".[2] The Goat, more specifically Matilda the Harlem Goat, was also proposed as a joke.[3] Nevertheless, the Leo as a mascot was approved by the Student Board on May 4, 1910.[4]

Multiple statues of the Columbia Lion have been commissioned and placed around Columbia's campus. A sculpture of a lion by Frederick Roth, donated by the Class of 1899, was placed on Baker Field to commemorate its opening in 1924.[5] "The Scholar's Lion", sculpted by alumnus Greg Wyatt, was unveiled as part of Columbia's semiquincentennial celebrations on April 7, 2004, and stands near Havemeyer Hall.[6]

In 2005, the Columbia student body voted to rename Leo Columbiae to Roar-ee the Lion. Other names in consideration included Hamilton, Hudson, K.C., and J.J.[7]

Matilda the Harlem Goat[]

Matilda was a goat owned by Patrick Riley, who had a farm at 120th Street and Amsterdam. She was often lent to Columbia students for hazing and pranks, and in 1910 was nominated for becoming Columbia's official mascot under the title "Matilda the Harlem Goat", supposedly as a joke.[8] Though reportedly a large contingency voted in her favor, this proposal did not succeed.[9] Upon her death in 1914, Columbia students held a funeral procession for Matilda, where they wore their academic regalia and sang a dirge called "A Harlem Goat".[1] She was stuffed and placed in the window of Charles Friedgen's drugstore, which was located across the street from the Riley farm. In 1956, a children's book called Matilda was written about her by Le Grand Henderson, which claimed that she had become an honorary student at Columbia and won a football game for the university by head-butting an inattentive fullback. Plans were made in 1960 to donate her to the New-York Historical Society. However, this move was met with resistance, and a petition was drawn by students which called upon Matilda's owners to "save its mortal remains from the icy grasp of the New York Historical Society."[10] Her current whereabouts are unknown.[9]

In popular culture[]

The Columbia Lion famously inspired the creation of Leo the Lion, the mascot of the Hollywood film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Leo was designed by alumnus Howard Dietz, who served as MGM's director of advertising, and chose the Lion as a tribute to Columbia.[11]

References[]

  1. ^ Compton, George Brokaw (April 22, 1910). "Communication". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  2. ^ "The Eagle for Columbia". Columbia Daily Spectator. April 11, 1910. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  3. ^ "Amicus Leonis" (April 19, 1910). "Communication". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  4. ^ "Year of the Lion". Columbia Magazine. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  5. ^ "Frederick Roth's bronze lion sculpture is unveiled at Baker Field". Columbia College Alumni Association. 2017-04-07. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  6. ^ "Alumni dedicate new Scholar's Lion statue on campus". Columbia College Alumni Association. 2017-04-12. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  7. ^ "The man, the myth, the mascot: Roar-ee the Lion's role in championing a stronger athletic culture at Columbia - Columbia Spectator". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  8. ^ "The Goat House, 'Maltilda The Goat' And 'A Harlem Goat' Poem, 1898". www.harlemworldmagazine.com. December 12, 2019. Retrieved July 10, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. ^ a b "FYI Our Mascot Was Almost a Goat". bwog.com. January 23, 2014. Retrieved July 10, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ^ "Historical Society Will Probably Get Columbia's Goat". Columbia Daily Spectator. January 6, 1960. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  11. ^ "Hidden Histories of Columbia". Columbia Magazine. Retrieved 2022-01-03.
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