Club sports

For most sports at Columbia, winning a league title at any level should merit some level of recognition from both the student body and the athletic administration, but in the case of the Columbia lacrosse club, neither of these has been given.

This past fall, a Columbia club team finished its season with only one blemish on its record: that club was the Columbia University Rugby Football Club.

Under the guise of creating a trademark for the “real” Columbia athletes, the club sports, many of which compete at a level comparable to the varsity sports, are not allowed to use the word “team” to describe themselves, nor can they compete as “lions,” or even create their own mascot.

As all 45 loyal readers of this section know, last semester the Columbia Athletics Department introduced the Columbia Campaign for Athletics, in which the University asked for $100 million to help fund the construction of new venues, the sponsorship of new head coaching endowments, and a variety of other programs.

The Columbia University Department of Athletics announced Tuesday that it would be implementing a new policy regarding the promotion of teams to varsity status.

The Columbia University Department of Athletics and Physical Education announced a new policy to the University’s Club Sports Assembly yesterday regarding the promotion of a team to varsity status.