The Lions
Columbia University was founded in 1754 and currently fields 29 co-ed, men’s, and women’s teams. Women's teams are cooperatively organized with the affiliated Barnard College. All Columbia teams compete at the Division I level in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The school's football team competes at the NCAA Division I FCS level.
It is believed that the school adopted the nickname "Lions" as a reference to the institution's royal past. The University was originally named King's College since its charter in 1754 by King George II of England. The lion is the animal depicted on the English coat of arms. Only after the American Revolution was King's finally renamed Columbia University.
Read more about this topic: Columbia Lions
Famous quotes containing the word lions:
“King Richard. Lions make leopards tame.
Mowbray. Yea, but not change his spots.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“If oxen and horses and lions had hands and were able to draw with their hands and do the same things as men, horses would draw the shapes of gods to look like horses and oxen would draw them to look like oxen, and each would make the gods bodies have the same shape as they themselves had.”
—Xenophanes (c. 570–478 B.C.)