The Columbia University Athletic Department announced yesterday that it will be adding two new varsity sports—men’s and women’s squash—starting in the fall of 2011. The two new sports will become Columbia’s 30th and 31st varsity programs.

Columbia is currently the only Ivy League school without a varsity men’s and women’s squash program. The establishment of these two new varsity sports stems from a donation from Geoff Grant, SEAS ’82, and his wife Annette, BC ’83, through the recently announced Columbia Campaign for Athletics: Achieving Excellence. The donation helps establish an endowment for the sport and is one of the first major impacts of the new campaign.

“Columbia prides itself on being a truly international campus, so it makes perfect sense to offer a sport that is popular around the globe,” Athletic Director M. Dianne Murphy said in a statement. “In general, squash players perform at high academic levels in a variety of disciplines. This is a sport in which we will be successful.”

The squash teams are also the first to be raised to varsity status under the newly established policy for promoting club sports laid out in late September. Along with the recommendation of the Athletic Department, the University’s Faculty Athletic Committee unanimously approved the motion to move the sports to the varsity level.

Both of the teams will continue to compete as club sports for the ’07-’08 and ’08-’09 academic years before becoming emerging varsity teams for the following two seasons, per NCAA regulations.

—Jonathan August