162-574: The Low Memorial Library (nicknamed Low ) is a building at the center of Columbia University 's Morningside Heights campus in Upper Manhattan in New York City . The building, located near 116th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue , was designed by Charles Follen McKim of the firm McKim, Mead & White . The building was constructed between 1895 and 1897 as the university's central library , although it has contained
324-490: A "dignified centerpiece for the campus". The Real Estate Record and Guide , believing Low to have been patterned after a French church by "the architect Rumpf", criticized Low's design as "plagiarized" from the older church. Montgomery Schuyler , who resented the fact the Columbia campus had not been designed in a Collegiate Gothic style, wrote in 1910: "the library of Columbia is a 'library de luxe and not de books'," citing
486-462: A "full-blown crisis" over tensions stemming from a pro-Palestinian campus occupation . These protests at Columbia sparked similar pro-Palestinian protests at universities across the USA. As the protests expanded in scale and notoriety, students and faculty, including people of Jewish heritage, pushed back against the silencing of anti-Zionist voices and accusations of anti-semitism . This sentiment
648-651: A 1924 article: "'Library' is a misnomer for an edifice designed for the benefit of sightseers." In a 1921 report, Butler said: "Pressure upon the Library of the University has become such as well nigh to paralyze it." In that year's university's annual report, Butler suggested a library could be created in University Hall, the completion of which had been delayed for years. A 1923 guidebook reported: "The room seats 152 readers, 15,000 reference volumes arranged on
810-457: A French friend. Architectural historian Richard Guy Wilson said: "The dome and space overpower while directional orientation to the necessities, such as picking up a book, are afterthoughts." According to Wilson, Low's exterior has "a powerful, rude strength of classicism being reborn" with refinement only in its architectural detail. The Low Memorial Library has appeared in several portrayals of Columbia University in popular culture , including
972-440: A King's Crown, a traditional symbol of the university. A book, representing learning, rests on her lap. The arms of her throne end in lamps, representing "Sapientia et Doctrina", or "Wisdom and Learning"; on the back of the throne is embossed an image of the seal of the university . An owl, a symbol of knowledge and learning, is hidden in the folds of Alma Mater 's cloak near her left leg. There has been some speculation on
1134-499: A balcony while the south and east halls have gates to the rotunda. Offices and additional libraries surrounded the ambulatory. At the center of the outer walls of the west, north, and east hallways are double wooden doors that lead to offices. Formerly, these doorways led to catalogue and specialized libraries. The doors on the east hall led to the Avery Architectural Library while the north hall's doors led to
1296-624: A central rotunda . Low's first floor shares design influences with the reading room at the Library of Congress's Thomas Jefferson Building , the Administration Building at the World's Columbian Exposition , and the nearby Grant's Tomb . The second floor had a gallery on the south arm and closed stacks on the north, east, and west arms. The third floor was devoted entirely to lecture rooms. The library's stacks were built to store one-and-a-half million volumes. Graduate students used
1458-409: A chapel to the east. In this plan, the pathways around the library were too narrow and the assembly hall, library, and chapel appeared to form a wall dividing the campus's north and south halves. Consequently, the plans underwent further refinement through mid-1894. McKim, working with his colleagues Kendall, Lord, and Swartwout, considered circular and octagonal layouts for the library before deciding on
1620-556: A city landmark in 1966. During the 1968 Columbia protests , Low was occupied by students objecting to, among other things, the proposed construction of a university-owned gymnasium in Morningside Park and Columbia's involvement with the Vietnam War . A major anti-war protest also took place at Low in 1972. Among the less-conventional uses of the library's interior in the 1970s was a model airplane club being allowed to use
1782-487: A connection between the northern and southern sections of Columbia's campus. One 325-to-327 ft (99-to-100 m) wide flight leads from the South Court to an intermediate landing, and a narrower, 134-to-140 ft (41-to-43 m) leads from the intermediate landing to the terrace. The narrower flight itself has an intermediate landing containing Alma Mater , a sculpture by Daniel Chester French that depicts
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#17327808831731944-427: A cruciform layout. In July 1894 McKim wrote to his partner William Rutherford Mead saying though "the scheme for the Library has undergone many changes", he and his colleagues had devised a suitable revised plan. The library would be placed on the site's highest point with a dome 300 ft (91 m) above the water level of the nearby Hudson River , and would be surrounded by the other buildings on campus. To make
2106-485: A design would not be "a real dome". McKim then proposed a Guastavino tile dome, to which Ware agreed. The Norcross Brothers then proposed an un-reinforced concrete dome they had planned themselves and McKim submitted plans to the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB). The DOB delayed issuing the permit until November 1895, likely in part because of the uncertainties over the new design. By then,
2268-459: A diverse range of professional and inter-disciplinary fields. In the aftermath of World War II, the discipline of international relations became a major scholarly focus of the university, and in response, the School of International and Public Affairs was founded in 1946, drawing upon the resources of the faculties of political science, economics, and history. The Columbia University Bicentennial
2430-412: A dominant vegetation type of Appalachian Oak ( 104 ) with a dominant vegetation form of Eastern Hardwood Forest ( 25 ). Columbia Transportation is the bus service of the university, operated by Academy Bus Lines . The buses are open to all Columbia faculty, students, Dodge Fitness Center members, and anyone else who holds a Columbia ID card. In addition, all TSC students can ride the buses. In
2592-652: A joint investigation by the NYPD and Columbia, the school concluded that the chemical substance was a "non-toxic, legal, novelty item". On April 17, 2024, Columbia president Minouche Shafik was questioned by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce on the topic of antisemitism on campus. While Shafik was in Washington, DC, student activists began renewed protests, leading to what CNN described as
2754-657: A major research university. For much of the 19th century, the university consisted of decentralized and separate faculties specializing in Political Science, Philosophy, and Pure Science. In 1979, these faculties were merged into the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences . In 1991, the faculties of Columbia College, the School of General Studies, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the School of
2916-412: A marble facade but Low had been hesitant to use such an expensive material, preferring instead to use brick for the library. McKim had wanted to use limestone, a material with a "monumental character". Construction had started by June 18, 1895. Initial work included excavation of the library's foundation. Seth Low wished to hold a cornerstone -laying ceremony in late 1895, but he postponed these plans after
3078-403: A marble floor with red, rust, beige, and gray panels in an octagonal arrangement. George W. Maynard sculpted eight panels with bronze reliefs depicting the twelve zodiac signs; the panels were manufactured by John Williams and displayed at the World's Columbian Exposition , after which they were donated to Columbia University. The vestibule contains a white marble bust of Pallas Athena , which
3240-482: A neighborhood that contains a number of academic institutions. The university owns over 7,800 apartments in Morningside Heights, housing faculty, graduate students, and staff. Almost two dozen undergraduate dormitories (purpose-built or converted) are located on campus or in Morningside Heights. Columbia University has an extensive tunnel system , more than a century old, with the oldest portions predating
3402-552: A new building on South Field facing Low from a site across 116th Street. Rogers devised a final design for South Hall (now Butler Library ) in April 1931. The new library, which Harkness agreed to fund that May, would be able to hold four million volumes. The new South Hall was dedicated on November 30, 1934. A giant slide was used to transport the 700,000 books – 22 mi (35 km) worth – in Low's stacks to
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#17327808831733564-467: A new library. Rogers's ambitious plan to complete University Hall also included a bridge and tunnel connecting it with Low. As part of this plan, Low's north wing would have been gutted and replaced with a staircase leading to the bridge. The plan was never realized because large portions of University Hall would have had to be rebuilt to accommodate the weight of the books, and the project was deemed too expensive. In December 1930 Butler asked Harkness to fund
3726-591: A pivotal role in scientific breakthroughs including brain–computer interface ; the laser and maser ; nuclear magnetic resonance ; the first nuclear pile ; the first nuclear fission reaction in the Americas ; the first evidence for plate tectonics and continental drift ; and much of the initial research and planning for the Manhattan Project during World War II . As of December 2021 , its alumni, faculty, and staff have included seven of
3888-415: A ready wit embracing the situation, were enacting the part of patroness to the university. Every student will love her and her influence will be altogether one of sweet nobility... [ Alma Mater ] is distinguished by a pure and poignant serenity, by a monumental feeling penetrated with a sort of gentle sprightliness; for the expression which he puts into the modeling of the limbs can scarcely be characterized by
4050-544: A revision committee, which was headed by John Jay and Alexander Hamilton. In April of that same year, a new charter was adopted for the college granted the power to a separate board of 24 trustees . For a period in the 1790s, with New York City as the federal and state capital and the country under successive Federalist governments, a revived Columbia thrived under the auspices of Federalists such as Hamilton and Jay. President George Washington and Vice President John Adams , in addition to both houses of Congress attended
4212-589: A shoebox two months later, and was returned to the university by hand by a Cornell professor the next day. In retaliation for the theft, the Ezra Cornell statue on Cornell's campus was doused in Columbia blue paint soon after the return of the scepter. On September 3, 2024, on the first day of classes after a semester of historic occupation of campus by pro-Palestinian protesters, the Alma Mater statue
4374-401: A siege ladder to access the second floor of Hamilton Hall and subsequently removed the demonstrators occupying it, dozens of whom were arrested. The actions taken against the demonstrators by the NYPD in riot armour while clearing Hamilton Hall inspired the rap song 'Hinds Hall' by Macklemore , who described the police as "actors in badges" in the song. In June, the charges against most of
4536-812: A statue in front of Low Memorial Library began upon the completion of the building in 1897. When Charles Follen McKim , the building's main architect, designed a set of stairs that would lead up to the building, he included an empty granite pedestal in the middle on which a statue might sit. Only three years later, Harriette W. Goelet offered the Trustees of Columbia , on behalf of herself and her children, up to $ 25,000 ($ 915,600 in 2023) to install "a bronze statue representing ' Alma Mater ,' to be placed upon [said] pedestal" in memory of her husband, Columbia College alumnus Robert Goelet , who had died in 1899. The Trustees accepted her proposition, and with McKim's recommendation commissioned Daniel Chester French to create
4698-412: A student application process characterized by The New York Times as "the first modern college application". The application required a photograph of the applicant, the maiden name of the applicant's mother, and the applicant's religious background. Columbia University is an independent, privately supported, nonsectarian and not-for-profit institution of higher education. Its official corporate name
4860-526: A trustee of the university, before the statue was formally presented to President Nicholas Murray Butler by Dean John Howard Van Amringe . The Goelets were not in attendance, having departed for Europe earlier. In 1904, a four-foot plaster reproduction of Alma Mater was borrowed by the university from French to be displayed at the Grand Sculpture Court of the St. Louis World's Fair . However,
5022-415: A woman, personifying the traditional image of the university as an alma mater . Hidden in the statue's leg is an owl symbolizing knowledge and learning; according to college superstition, the first member of the incoming class to find the owl will become class valedictorian . The centers of the stairs are slightly curved upward to remove the impression they were sagging. As a result, the center of each step
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5184-526: A word of more sensitive application. More recently, The New York Times has dubbed Alma Mater the "grand old lady" of Columbia University, who "reigns in queenly splendor in front of Low Library." The AIA Guide to New York City described it as "an evocative statue" where "the enthroned figure extends her hand in welcome as she looks up from the mighty tome of knowledge lying open in her lap." Alma Mater 's placement in front of Low Library in particular has been praised for its role in welcoming students to
5346-623: Is Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York . In 1754, the university's first charter was granted by King George II ; however, its modern charter was first enacted in 1787 and last amended in 1810 by the New York State Legislature. Alma Mater (New York sculpture) Alma Mater is a bronze sculpture by Daniel Chester French which is located on the steps of the Low Memorial Library on
5508-402: Is $ 46,516. In 2015–2016, annual undergraduate tuition at Columbia was $ 50,526 with a total cost of attendance of $ 65,860 (including room and board). The college is need-blind for domestic applicants. On April 11, 2007, Columbia University announced a $ 400 million donation from media billionaire alumnus John Kluge to be used exclusively for undergraduate financial aid. The donation is among
5670-763: Is a third campus on the west bank of the Hudson River , the 157-acre (64 ha) Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory and Earth Institute in Palisades , New York. A fourth is the 60-acre (24 ha) Nevis Laboratories in Irvington, New York , for the study of particle and motion physics. A satellite site in Paris holds classes at Reid Hall . In 2006, the university established the Office of Environmental Stewardship to initiate, coordinate and implement programs to reduce
5832-461: Is about 3.5 in (8.9 cm) taller than the extreme ends. Smaller sets of staircases connect the intermediate landing to passages at terrace level on the west and east. Architecture critic Paul Goldberger said of the steps in 1987: "The building itself, for all the power of its immense scale and huge dome, seems almost to recede, deferring to the stairs before it." During Columbia University commencement ceremonies, Columbia's "graduation mace"
5994-464: Is at the center of Columbia University 's Morningside Heights campus in Manhattan , New York City. The building's official address is 535 West 116th Street, though the section of 116th Street between Broadway to the west and Amsterdam Avenue to the east is part of the private College Walk. Low is raised above the northern portion of the campus, which itself is a terrace above the South Court to
6156-534: Is centered on the front steps of Low Memorial Library . The statue represents a personification of the traditional image of the university as an alma mater , or "nourishing mother", draped in an academic gown and seated on a throne. She wears a laurel wreath on her head and holds in her right hand a scepter capped by a King's Crown, a traditional symbol of the university. A book, representing learning, rests on her lap. The arms of her throne end in lamps, representing "Sapientia et Doctrina", or "Wisdom and Learning"; on
6318-496: Is customarily carried down the stairs. The stairs have been used for other speeches, such as a 1991 speech by novelist Salman Rushdie after the Iranian government targeted him for assassination . The Low Memorial Library was designed by Charles Follen McKim of McKim, Mead & White and was built between 1894 and 1897. McKim was assisted in the design by William M. Kendall , Austin W. Lord , and Egerton Swartwout . The library
6480-521: Is modeled after Minerve du Collier at the Louvre . Oak doors on the west and east link to sets of four marble steps, which connect to the former offices of the president and the trustees, respectively. Above these doors are stone architraves with molded leaf-and-dart motifs and lintels with paneling. On either side of the doors are double-height limestone pilasters with gilded capitals . Several portraits were hung in each room. The trustees' room to
6642-523: Is not the Catholic Church associated with all that is noble and tender in the mind and heart of man!" However, French was reportedly unsatisfied with the amount of attention the sculpture initially received, stating that it did not make a "ripple on the surface of New York". In 1903, Charles Henry Caffin praised Alma Mater as "beautiful... unquestionably", though not necessarily one of French's best works. He described her as follows: The face
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6804-472: Is of a familiar type of American beauty, corresponding with the very modern suggestion of the whole figure. Yet the sculptor has invested the head with an air of dispassionate refinement which gives it a certain aloofness; scarcely more, however, than the self-possession, consciously unconscious, with which the American woman can carry her beauty. It is almost as if one of them had mounted the pedestal and, with
6966-423: Is painted sky blue. The false dome's ribs are spaced four ft (1.2 m) apart at the springing of the arches. A sphere that reflected light from eight spotlight beams on the room's third-floor balconies at night was suspended from the ceiling. The globe was intended to resemble the moon. The sphere was seven ft (2.1 m) across and hung from a steel, one-quarter in (6.4 mm) thick wire, giving
7128-550: Is partly inspired by those of the Library of Congress and the British Library . Unlike these other libraries, Low faces away from much of the campus that was built around it. The building is topped by a round dome made of brick, which is clad on the outside with limestone, and on the inside with steel framing and plaster. The dome has a radius of 52 ft (16 m) and a maximum thickness of 48 in (120 cm) at
7290-591: Is ranked fourth overall and second among university hospitals. Columbia's medical school has a strategic partnership with New York State Psychiatric Institute , and is affiliated with 19 other hospitals in the U.S. and four hospitals in other countries. Health-related schools are located at the Columbia University Medical Center , a 20-acre (8.1 ha) campus located in the neighborhood of Washington Heights , fifty blocks uptown. Other teaching hospitals affiliated with Columbia through
7452-726: Is the Henry Hudson Parkway ( NY 9A ) to the west of the campus. It is located 3.4 miles (5.5 km) south of the George Washington Bridge . Columbia University received 60,551 applications for the class of 2025 (entering 2021) and a total of around 2,218 were admitted to the two schools for an overall acceptance rate of 3.66%. Columbia is a racially diverse school, with approximately 52% of all students identifying themselves as persons of color. Additionally, 50% of all undergraduates received grants from Columbia. The average grant size awarded to these students
7614-587: The Common Application . The policy change made Columbia one of the last major academic institutions and the last Ivy League university to switch to the Common Application. Scholarships are also given to undergraduate students by the admissions committee. Designations include John W. Kluge Scholars, John Jay Scholars, C. Prescott Davis Scholars, Global Scholars, Egleston Scholars, and Science Research Fellows. Named scholars are selected by
7776-703: The Founding Fathers of the United States of America; four U.S. presidents ; 34 foreign heads of state or government ; two secretaries-general of the United Nations; ten justices of the United States Supreme Court ; 103 Nobel laureates ; 125 National Academy of Sciences members; 53 living billionaires; 23 Olympic medalists ; 33 Academy Award winners ; and 125 Pulitzer Prize recipients. Discussions regarding
7938-635: The Israel–Hamas war , with counter-protests from pro- Israel activists. The students were protesting against the alleged genocide of Palestinians in Gaza by the IDF , with significant faculty support for the protests. Protestors were reported to have yelled “October 7th is going to be every day for you,” toward Jewish students. In January 2024, students who were former IDF soldiers were accused of attacking pro-Palestine demonstrators with noxious chemicals in what
8100-743: The Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory , the Goddard Institute for Space Studies , and accelerator laboratories with Big Tech firms such as Amazon and IBM . Columbia is a founding member of the Association of American Universities and was the first school in the United States to grant the MD degree . The university also administers and annually awards the Pulitzer Prize . Columbia scientists and scholars have played
8262-541: The Manhattan Project , creating the first nuclear fission reactor in the Americas and researching gaseous diffusion . In 1928, Seth Low Junior College was established by Columbia University in order to mitigate the number of Jewish applicants to Columbia College. The college was closed in 1936 due to the adverse effects of the Great Depression and its students were subsequently taught at Morningside Heights, although they did not belong to any college but to
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#17327808831738424-553: The New York City Subway , the [REDACTED] train serves the university at 116th Street-Columbia University . The M4 , M104 and M60 buses stop on Broadway while the M11 stops on Amsterdam Avenue. The main campus is primarily boxed off by the streets of Amsterdam Avenue, Broadway , 114th street, and 120th street, with some buildings, including Barnard College, located just outside the area. The nearest major highway
8586-412: The Upper Manhattan neighborhood of Morningside Heights on Seth Low 's late-19th century vision of a university campus where all disciplines could be taught at one location. The campus was designed along Beaux-Arts planning principles by the architects McKim, Mead & White . Columbia's main campus occupies more than six city blocks , or 32 acres (13 ha), in Morningside Heights, New York City,
8748-432: The law library . The Avery Architectural Library's ceiling beams bore inscriptions of architects' names. The west hall's doors led to the administrative offices, and the west wing contained the periodical, catalogue, and delivery rooms. The periodical room measured 61 by 37 ft (19 by 11 m) and had a two-story-high ceiling. There was also an exhibition room measuring 39 by 54 ft (12 by 16 m). Decoration in
8910-496: The lunettes atop the Baths of Caracalla. The top of the dome is around 135 ft (41 m) above terrace level and 152 ft (46 m) above the grade of what was formerly 116th Street. Low has four stories. The ground level is a raised basement while the first floor is one story above ground. The first floor's interior consists of an entrance vestibule on the south side of the building that leads to an ambulatory surrounding
9072-440: The stylobate of the portico, corresponds to the top of the base. The entrance portico consists of an Ionic -style colonnade of ten columns supporting a cornice and attic. Each of the columns is 35 ft (11 m) tall and has a diameter of 4 ft (1.2 m). The frieze above the columns reads: "Library of Columbia University". An inscription above the colonnade describes the university's founding. It reads: The building
9234-653: The "Urban Beach", are a popular meeting area for Columbia students. The term refers to the long series of granite steps leading from the lower part of campus (South Field) to its upper terrace. In April 2007, the university purchased more than two-thirds of a 17 acres (6.9 ha) site for a new campus in Manhattanville , an industrial neighborhood to the north of the Morningside Heights campus. Stretching from 125th Street to 133rd Street , Columbia Manhattanville houses buildings for Columbia's Business School, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia School of
9396-480: The 1890s according to a master plan by McKim. When Low Library was completed, it was poorly suited for library use, becoming overcrowded from the early 20th century. Low's central location, however, made it a focal point of the university's campus. Following the completion of the much larger Butler Library in 1934, the Low Memorial Library was converted to administrative offices. Low Memorial Library
9558-405: The 2005 film Hitch and the 2017 film The Post . The library building has also been depicted on postage. In 1954, during the university's bicentennial , Low was commemorated on a postage stamp. For the university's semiquincentennial in 2004, an image of the library was placed on a pre-stamped postcard. Columbia University Columbia University , officially Columbia University in
9720-532: The Arts , and the School of Professional Studies were merged into the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, leading to the academic integration and centralized governance of these schools. In 2010, the School of International and Public Affairs , which was previously a part of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, became an independent faculty. In fall of 2023, pro-Palestine student activists organized protests in response to
9882-744: The Arts, and the Jerome L. Greene Center for Mind, Brain, and Behavior, where research will occur on neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. The $ 7 billion expansion plan included demolishing all buildings, except three that are historically significant (the Studebaker Building , Prentis Hall , and the Nash Building), eliminating the existing light industry and storage warehouses, and relocating tenants in 132 apartments. Replacing these buildings created 6.8 million square feet (630,000 m ) of space for
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#173278088317310044-456: The City of New York , is a private Ivy League research university in New York City . Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhattan , it is the oldest institution of higher education in New York and the fifth-oldest in the United States . Columbia was established as a colonial college by royal charter under George II of Great Britain . It
10206-461: The King's College campus at Park Place to a primarily Gothic Revival campus on 49th Street and Madison Avenue , where it remained for the next forty years. During the last half of the 19th century, under the presidency of Frederick A. P. Barnard , for whom Barnard College is named, the institution rapidly assumed the shape of a modern university. Barnard College was created in 1889 as a response to
10368-816: The NewYork-Presbyterian network include the Payne Whitney Clinic in Manhattan, and the Payne Whitney Westchester, a psychiatric institute located in White Plains, New York. On the northern tip of Manhattan island (in the neighborhood of Inwood ), Columbia owns the 26-acre (11 ha) Baker Field, which includes the Lawrence A. Wien Stadium as well as facilities for field sports, outdoor track, and tennis. There
10530-533: The Trustees, and the price to be paid by the Goelets was determined to be $ 20,000 ($ 732,480 in 2023). McKim, who was greatly worried about the quality of the statue given its prominent location in front of Low Library, was reportedly "delighted", describing the statue as "dignified, classic and stately... exhibiting as much perception of the spirit and freedom of the Greek as any modern can." Despite expectations that
10692-572: The United States. In 1763, Johnson was succeeded in the presidency by Myles Cooper , a graduate of The Queen's College, Oxford , and an ardent Tory . In the charged political climate of the American Revolution , his chief opponent in discussions at the college was an undergraduate of the class of 1777, Alexander Hamilton . The Irish anatomist, Samuel Clossy , was appointed professor of natural philosophy in October 1765 and later
10854-538: The United States. Several buildings on the Morningside Heights campus are listed on the National Register of Historic Places . Low Memorial Library , a National Historic Landmark and the centerpiece of the campus, is listed for its architectural significance. Philosophy Hall is listed as the site of the invention of FM radio . Also listed is Pupin Hall , another National Historic Landmark , which houses
11016-404: The University." Williamson suggested Columbia's library system needed space for at least four million volumes. Low's rotunda had become overcrowded with a reference collection while the card catalogs could not be sufficiently accommodated in the building. Williamson began soliciting funds from philanthropist and Columbia alumnus Edward Harkness , and he commissioned James Gamble Rogers to design
11178-411: The admission committee from first-year applicants. According to Columbia, the first four designated scholars "distinguish themselves for their remarkable academic and personal achievements, dynamism, intellectual curiosity, the originality and independence of their thinking, and the diversity that stems from their different cultures and their varied educational experiences". In 1919, Columbia established
11340-408: The architects feared cold weather would weaken the concrete, forcing the dome to be deferred until the following spring. Consequently, the dome was made of brick with an inner surface of metal lath and plaster, and a limestone exterior. The site of Columbia University's new campus was officially dedicated on May 2, 1896, by which time work on the library was rapidly progressing. Seth Low had wanted all
11502-479: The architects presented their findings to the trustees. Columbia ultimately hired McKim to design the new Morningside Heights campus in late 1893. McKim was a relatively inexperienced architect at the time, but he had endowed a fellowship to the Columbia School of Architecture three years prior. The center of the site was higher than its surroundings, leading McKim to develop a classical-style campus around
11664-555: The artistic merits of the work, recognized that the sculpture was "for technical reasons an extraordinarily difficult piece of work." Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper called the work "French's masterpiece of sculpture", while The Catholic Union compared the figure of Alma Mater to the Virgin Mary , incorrectly claiming that the work was an imitation of a "Mother of Christ" statue in Bonn , Germany , exclaiming, "How closely
11826-469: The back of the throne is embossed an image of the seal of the university . The small hidden owl on the sculpture is also the subject of many Columbia legends, the main legend being that the first student in the freshmen class to find the hidden owl on the statue will be valedictorian, and that any subsequent Columbia male who finds it will marry a Barnard student, given that Barnard is a women's college . "The Steps", alternatively known as "Low Steps" or
11988-452: The belief that they were contributing to the rapid transformation of their city into a world center of intellectual and professional endeavor. The statue represents a personification of the traditional image of the university as an alma mater , or "nourishing mother", draped in an academic gown and seated on a throne. She wears a laurel wreath on her head and holds in her right hand a scepter made of four sprays of wheat which are capped by
12150-399: The bottom, tapering to 9 in (23 cm) at the pinnacle. The steel frame under the dome is made of two 1 in (2.5 cm) thick and 12 in (30 cm) wide steel bars. The ceiling of the rotunda beneath is a false ceiling that hangs about 16 ft (4.9 m) below the inner face of the dome. Otherwise, the dome is made of stone that is designed to be self-supporting. The dome
12312-447: The building's Greek cross correspond to the four cardinal directions . The cross has a maximum width of 192 ft (59 m). The Greek cross layout had previously been used in several libraries, including the main library of New York University (NYU)'s Bronx campus (now Gould Memorial Library on the campus of Bronx Community College ) that was designed by McKim's colleague Stanford White . Low's arrangement, like that of Gould's,
12474-402: The campus grounds. The basement had cloak rooms, the office of the superintendent of buildings and grounds, a sub-post office, a telegraph office, and telephone booths. It also contained a portion of the stacks, which could store 150,000 volumes. A separate stack room served the law library in the north wing, to which it was connected by stairs. The law library occupied the entire north wing, and
12636-541: The campus of Columbia University , in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan , New York City . French designed the statue in 1901, and it was installed in September 1903. It is a personification of the alma mater , which represents Columbia in its role as an educational institution; since its installation, the statue has become closely associated with the image of the university. Plans for
12798-474: The college's commencement on May 6, 1789, as a tribute of honor to the many alumni of the school who had been involved in the American Revolution . In November 1813, the college agreed to incorporate its medical school with The College of Physicians and Surgeons, a new school created by the Regents of New York, forming Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons . In 1857, the college moved from
12960-479: The college's first professor of anatomy in 1767. The American Revolutionary War broke out in 1776, and was catastrophic for the operation of King's College, which suspended instruction for eight years beginning in 1776 with the arrival of the Continental Army . The suspension continued through the military occupation of New York City by British troops until their departure in 1783. The college's library
13122-408: The columns was a decorative iron structure topped by a four-sided clock with a bronze sculpture of an eagle. Each of the rotunda's main walls includes four Vermont granite columns with gilt-bronze, Ionic-style capitals that screen the rotunda from the ambulatory. Each column is 29 ft (8.8 m) tall, supporting a third-story balcony, and each of the capitals weighs almost one ton. Vermont marble
13284-408: The construction contract was awarded to Norcross Brothers . A few days after the construction contract was awarded, Seth Low donated $ 1 million (equivalent to $ 37 million in 2023) to the library in memory of his father, Abiel Abbot Low. In exchange, the library would be named the Low Memorial Library. The donation reportedly comprised a third of Seth Low's fortune. News media profusely praised
13446-469: The donation, which was reported for several days on the front pages of the city's newspapers. McKim thanked president Low for the donation: "If, when the Library building shall be completed, your confidence in our firm prove to not have been misplaced, I shall regard [the library] one of the greatest happinesses of my life." Seth Low asked McKim to draw designs for a library with a facade of marble, limestone, or brick and limestone. The initial plans called for
13608-441: The early 20th century, may have been the basis for the statue, though it is more likely that the model for Alma Mater was actually Mary Lawton, an actress and a friend of French. Given the commission, French's stated aim was to create "a figure that should be gracious in the impression that it should make, with an attitude of welcome to the youths who should choose Columbia as their College." French went through several designs:
13770-479: The east was decorated by the Herter Brothers and has oak paneling. The center of the trustees' room has a Georgian-style fireplace mantel , which contains a broken pediment holding an iron crown from King's College , the predecessor of Columbia University. The mantel has a cornerstone from King's College's original building and a portrait of the college's founding president Samuel Johnson . The rest of
13932-400: The entire university community" and was carried out by both faculty and students. The task force on anti-semitism was criticised by a group of 24 Jewish faculty (as well as 16 non-Jewish faculty) and Jewish students for misrepresentations, omission of key context and equating anti-Zionism with antisemitism. The majority of Columbia's graduate and undergraduate studies are conducted in
14094-566: The entrance to the vestibule, where they were most prominent, and Vermont marble was used for the rest. An issue about inscriptions for the exterior friezes, which Low started to discuss at the end of 1896, arose. He devised some ideas for inscriptions during mid-1897, suggesting to McKim the inscriptions should describe Columbia's history. The Columbia trustees disagreed on whether such inscriptions should be in English or Latin, as well as their locations. Ultimately, they gave McKim permission only for
14256-444: The entrance vestibule. The columns, each of which weighs 25 short tons (22 long tons; 23 t), were quarried from the largest blocks of Connemara marble available when the library was built. The ceiling of the south hallway is divided into five coffers and a bronze lamp hangs from the outermost coffer on either side. The west, north, and east hallways have similar ceilings but are illuminated by three bronze lanterns. The north hall has
14418-479: The exact meaning of the owl, including by history professor Dwight C. Miner , who believed that the owl was a reference to the Psi Upsilon fraternity, of which Miner believed French to have been a member. In 1953, French's daughter, Margaret French Cresson, clarified in a letter to The New York Times that it "represents no fraternity and poses no labyrinthine riddle. The owl is the age-old symbol of wisdom and
14580-518: The facade. The corners of the Greek cross also have deeply set windows. The roof of the Greek cross's "arms" is about 70 ft (21 m) above the ground level of the terrace. Above the top of the cross, Low's walls, which rise to 100 ft (30 m) above the surrounding terrace, are arranged as an octagonal drum supporting the dome. Each of the four main walls has large, half-round windows that are either 44 or 50 ft (13 or 15 m) across and 22 ft (6.7 m) high, and are evocative of
14742-407: The failures of the university's administration, which included the continued gentrification of the Morningside Heights neighborhood. In the early morning hours of May 15, 1970, a bomb was planted on the statue. The resulting explosion caused significant damage to Alma Mater 's throne. The damage remained until 1978, when the statue was removed from Columbia, the throne was recast, and the sculpture
14904-479: The fall of 1983, after a decade of failed negotiations with Barnard College , the all-female institution affiliated with the university, to merge the two schools. Barnard College still remains affiliated with Columbia, and all Barnard graduates are issued diplomas signed by the presidents of Columbia University and Barnard College. During the late 20th century, the university underwent significant academic, structural, and administrative changes as it developed into
15066-411: The final details were still being installed through 1898. From its opening, the building served both as a library and as the university's administrative office. The library could store 450,000 volumes in its stacks. Additional space on the third floor was being temporarily allocated to Columbia's political science and philosophy departments, which were expected to relocate to dedicated quarters some time in
15228-424: The floor's center is a bronze bas-relief of the university's seal . The walls of the long passages have Doric -style limestone pilasters and orange plaster panels, bordered by leaf motifs and band course like those in the vestibule. There are also oak panels that correspond to the rotunda's former bookcases. The south hallway contains a pair of green, double-height, Connemara marble columns that screen it from
15390-575: The former site of the Bloomingdale Insane Asylum between Broadway, Amsterdam Avenue, and 116th and 120th Streets in Morningside Heights . The next month, Low hired Charles Follen McKim, Charles C. Haight , and Richard Morris Hunt as consultants to plan a new campus on the newly acquired site. Low wanted the consultants to collaborate but the process became an architectural design competition in practice, with each architect preparing multiple plans in different styles. In April 1893
15552-572: The founding of a college in the Province of New York began as early as 1704. Classes were initially held in July 1754 and were presided over by the college's first president, Samuel Johnson . The college was officially founded on October 31, 1754, as King's College by royal charter of George II , making it the oldest institution of higher learning in the State of New York and the fifth oldest in
15714-415: The future, freeing space for another 600,000 volumes. University officials believed the new library was sufficient to accommodate the university's collection, which in 1896 contained 215,000 volumes and was adding 12,000 volumes annually. The campus had 1,353 students across all programs in 1898, and the library was expected to easily accommodate all these students. The collection grew much more quickly after
15876-509: The ground in reference to the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandal. Alma Mater has also been at the center of many pranks, including one instance in 1928 when the crown atop her scepter was stolen (and later returned), as well as in October 1984, when the scepter was removed in its entirety by Cornell students. It appeared on the doorstep of the Dean of Students of Cornell in
16038-508: The groundbreaking for NYU's Gould Library that October – he did not want to hold a similar event in such close succession. The Low Library's cornerstone was informally laid on December 7, 1895. Construction of the library was delayed by disagreements over the dome's design. When the walls were being constructed, McKim had planned to create the dome using concrete carried on iron trusses with limestone cladding. Columbia's architecture departmental head William Robert Ware argued such
16200-402: The highest point. Columbia's trustees approved the first iteration of McKim's campus plan in April or May 1894; the plan had a rectangular library building surrounded on either side by symmetrical rows of buildings. The library was to be built at the center of the campus, facing south toward a main entrance on 116th Street; there would also be a court to the north, an assembly hall to the west, and
16362-454: The impression it floated in midair. It is not known whether the spotlights were ever used for their intended purpose but the sphere has since been removed. A sub-basement contained heating and ventilating apparatus, and a storage room. There are doors at each of the basement's four corners. When the Low Memorial Library was operating as a library, students generally used these doors to enter the building because they were convenient entrances from
16524-447: The inscription above the main entrance. In June 1897 Columbia's existing library closed for three months for the relocation of the collection. The new Columbia University campus opened on October 4, 1897. The opening was marked with a small ceremony in the library's reading room, during which Seth Low announced his resignation. Low Library was not completed at the time; the power plant and other mechanical systems were not in operation, and
16686-473: The interim provost Dennis Mitchell said was “what appears to have been serious crimes, possibly hate crimes”. One of the students suspected in the attack was initially placed on interim suspension before later being suspended through May 2025. In April 2024, the suspended student sued Columbia, alleging that the school subjected him to "biased misconduct proceedings" and that he had used fart sprays such as " Liquid Ass " rather than harmful chemicals. Following
16848-572: The journal Library Columns said Low's cornerstone symbolizes the cornerstone of the entire campus "not only architecturally, but philosophically and philanthropically". Some early publications praised the design; one source said the library is "a utilitarian scheme artistically carried out", and another ranked the library "among the foremost in the world". The fifth edition of the AIA Guide to New York City described Low Memorial Library in 2010 as "Columbia University's most noteworthy visual symbol" and
17010-472: The largest single gifts to higher education. However, this does not apply to international students, transfer students, visiting students, or students in the School of General Studies. In the fall of 2010, admission to Columbia's undergraduate colleges Columbia College and the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science (also known as SEAS or Columbia Engineering) began accepting
17172-451: The library stand out, McKim designed a grand stairway for the 116th Street frontage. The assembly hall and chapel were moved from the library to the west and east, creating small courtyards on either side. Seth Low had contemplated whether the other buildings should be ornately decorated so the trustees could approve of the design but McKim believed the library should have a simple-yet-grand style. The trustees approved this proposal, under which
17334-557: The library would cost $ 700,000 (equivalent to $ 25 million in 2023), in November 1894. Later that month a model of the library was exhibited at the American Fine Arts Society . After plans for the library were approved, the trustees received bids for the construction of the library and surrounding buildings. At the time, Columbia had sufficient funds to construct a few buildings but not the library. In May 1895
17496-432: The library's columns to be made of Connemara marble, but because of their large diameters only two columns of that size could be quarried with the material available. NYU had purchased sixteen narrower Connemara marble columns for its own library; its architect, McKim's partner Stanford White, boasted about how Columbia's library had been unable to secure the same material. Columbia's two Connemara marble columns were placed at
17658-400: The library's former reading room. The rotunda has four long walls corresponding to the cardinal directions and four short walls corresponding to the intercardinal directions. The reading room contained circular tables, each of which was lit by a reading lamp. The reading room's seats were arranged in four concentric rings. Four columns adjoined a reference desk at the center of the rotunda. Above
17820-512: The multiversity model that later universities would adopt. Prior to becoming the president of Columbia University, Butler founded Teachers College , as a school to prepare home economists and manual art teachers for the children of the poor, with philanthropist Grace Hoadley Dodge . Teachers College is currently affiliated as the university's Graduate School of Education. In the 1940s, faculty members, including John R. Dunning , I. I. Rabi , Enrico Fermi , and Polykarp Kusch , began what became
17982-533: The new Republic, the legislature stipulated that "the College within the City of New York heretofore called King's College be forever hereafter called and known by the name of Columbia College ", a reference to Columbia , an alternative name for America which in turn comes from the name of Christopher Columbus . The Regents finally became aware of the college's defective constitution in February 1787 and appointed
18144-525: The new library. Low continued to host the president's and secretary's offices, the summer session, and the Columbiana and Rare Book Collections. The rest of the building contained mostly faculty offices. Because people continued to refer to the building as "Low Library", some students were confused and believed the building still served as a library. In the first few years after the South Hall library
18306-540: The north side of the second story contained law collections. The east side had social sciences collections, with the Columbiana collection on the northeast corner and modern-language collections on the west side. The south wing, which is the top of the entrance vestibule, has only a balcony. The third-story balconies formerly held the open stacks, which were used by graduate students. The gallery stacks held 16,000 volumes. The third floor had history and philosophy collections, offices, workrooms, and 10 lecture halls. The layout of
18468-405: The north wall. McKim personally funded he figure of Euripides. Twelve figures were planned for the other walls but these figures were never built. The corners of the rotunda have large, limestone piers that serve as pendentives for the rotunda's ceiling; the piers contain gold circles and have internal ducts. Inscriptions of the medieval sciences of Law, Philosophy, Medicine, and Theology decorate
18630-424: The open stacks and adjacent small reading rooms while undergraduates could use only the closed stacks, using the rotunda as a central reading room. Eighteen small reading rooms were provided. Elmer E. Garnsey was hired to create the library's interior color scheme. As of 2010, the exhibition space in the building is open to the public from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Columbia students, staff, and faculty can book
18792-402: The opening of the Morningside Heights campus, reaching 300,000 volumes by 1900. The following year, a university pamphlet said the library was open on weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 11:00 p.m., and the library closed one hour earlier from July to September. At the time, the library had about 10,000 volumes in the general reading room, as well as 310,000 bound volumes and many pamphlets in
18954-409: The original plaster model he made for Alma Mater showed her with her hands in her lap, with her left hand holding the book that lay on it, and her heels touching. Though Goelet and President Seth Low were "greatly delighted" by French's first draft, their critiques led French to change her arms to be outstretched and holding a scepter. His final design for the statue was approved on March 4, 1901, by
19116-403: The outer walls. The rotunda contains a sky-blue plaster dome and four Vermont granite columns on each of its four sides. The library's stacks could store one-and-a-half million volumes; the east wing hosted the Avery Architectural Library and the north wing hosted Columbia's law library . The library was built as part of Columbia University's Morningside Heights campus, which was developed in
19278-428: The participants in the occupation of Hamilton Hall were dropped. In mid-August 2024, three deans and Minouche Shafik , the 20th president of the university, resigned in the wake of the campus protests. In late August, the university's antisemitism task force reported that the university had failed to prevent violence and hate or protect Jews in the university . According to the report, antisemitism has "affected
19440-609: The physics and astronomy departments. Here the first experiments on the fission of uranium were conducted by Enrico Fermi . The uranium atom was split there ten days after the world's first atom-splitting in Copenhagen , Denmark. Other buildings listed include Casa Italiana , the Delta Psi, Alpha Chapter building of St. Anthony Hall , Earl Hall , and the buildings of the affiliated Union Theological Seminary . A statue by sculptor Daniel Chester French called Alma Mater
19602-414: The piers. The tops of the pendentives are beveled. The rotunda's piers also support vaults on each of the building's main walls, which include half-round windows. During daylight hours, the lunette windows atop the walls provided sufficient illumination. The rotunda's ceiling is 105.5 ft (32.2 m) tall and 73 ft (22 m) across. The ceiling is a false dome made of plaster over steel mesh and
19764-544: The political science and philosophy departments did not move as scheduled, and because of increased enrollment – the university had 4,225 students by 1914. The overcrowding was slightly alleviated in 1910 when the law collection was relocated to the newly built Kent Hall. Avery Hall opened two years later; by then, the Avery Architectural Library had also outgrown its space at Low. The increasing overcrowding led Columbia's newspaper to say in
19926-548: The present campus. Some of these remain accessible to the public, while others have been cordoned off. Butler Library is the largest in the Columbia University Libraries system and one of the largest buildings on the campus. It was completed in 1934 and renamed to Butler Library in 1946. As of 2020 , Columbia's library system includes over 15.0 million volumes, making it the eighth largest library system and fifth largest collegiate library system in
20088-496: The public on weekdays from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. In the early 21st century Low continued to be the location of large events such as protests and rallies. For example, in 2016, students conducted a sit-in and a "sleep-out" to demand divestment from fossil fuel companies, and a chapter of Extinction Rebellion protested in the building in 2019. The Low Memorial Library was intended to symbolize Columbia's new campus and to serve as an administrative center. A 1995 article from
20250-599: The right to appropriate private property for public use. On May 20, 2009, the New York State Public Authorities Control Board approved the Manhanttanville expansion plan. NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is affiliated with the medical schools of both Columbia University and Cornell University . According to U.S. News & World Report ' s "2020–21 Best Hospitals Honor Roll and Medical Specialties Rankings", it
20412-505: The rotunda to fly miniature aircraft at weekends. The rotunda continued to host events like the annual Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards for news broadcasters. The LPC designated the interior of the library's first floor as a city landmark in 1981. Low was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987 as a National Historic Landmark , and it was added to the New York State Register of Historic Places
20574-581: The rotunda. Laurel leaves and medallions divide the vestibule's ceiling into nine coffers . The central coffer has a bronze lantern above the Pallas Athena bust. The ambulatory is an octagonal hallway around the rotunda consisting of alternating long and short passages; the long passages correspond to the cardinal directions while the shorter passages correspond to the intercardinal directions . The floor has alternating marble squares and circles that are laid in hues of red, yellow, and black-and-white. At
20736-400: The same year. In 2001 Columbia began to renovate Low's roof and add new mechanical systems to plans by David Paul Helpern Associates. The work was projected to cost $ 14.5 million (equivalent to $ 25 million in 2023) and the installation of the new mechanical systems would enable Columbia officials to remove mechanical equipment from the roof. At the time, the building was still open to
20898-477: The second and third stories allowed different specialties to have seminar areas and private study rooms near the stacks corresponding to their subjects. In 1890, through his family's wealth and social connections, Seth Low became Columbia University's president. The university's campus, which at the time was in Midtown Manhattan , was quickly becoming cramped. In April 1892, Columbia University acquired
21060-516: The shape of a Greek cross . Three sets of stairs on the library's south side lead to a colonnade with a frieze describing its founding. The steps contain Daniel Chester French 's sculpture Alma Mater , a university symbol. The library is four stories tall, excluding a ground-level basement. The building's raised first floor has an entrance vestibule, as well as an ambulatory around an octagonal rotunda , which leads to offices on
21222-491: The shelves. The library contains in all about 835,000 volumes, beside pamphlets, manuscripts, and 50,000 doctoral dissertations." The following August, Charles C. Williamson , who was appointed Dean of the Columbia School of Library Service in 1926, wrote to Butler suggesting the creation of a new library. Williamson said in his letter: "A condition has been reached which threatens to hamper the growth and development of
21384-457: The short passages is simple: The unornamented walls are made of plaster and have arched, recessed doorways flanked by simple pilasters. The halls have arched ceilings and are illuminated by bronze lamps on marble pedestals, below which are lions' heads and above which are glass globes. Staircases rise to the upper levels, which are adjacent to each of the short sections of the ambulatory. The center of Low's first floor contains an octagonal rotunda,
21546-407: The south. The library building occupies the highest point of the original campus. The building is surrounded by Miller Theatre and Lewisohn Hall to the southwest; Earl Hall to the west; Mathematics and Havemeyer Halls to the west; Uris Hall to the north; Schermerhorn , Avery, and Fayerweather Halls to the northeast; St. Paul's Chapel to the east; and Buell , Philosophy , and Kent Halls to
21708-505: The southeast. Earl Hall and St. Paul's Chapel are both designed along the same west–east axis as Low. This arrangement is part of McKim, Mead & White 's design for the campus. Two flights of steps connect the terrace to the South Court; the library proper is approached by another flight above the terrace. Known as "the Steps", "Low Steps", and occasionally "Low Beach", they are a popular meeting area for Columbia students. They also serve as
21870-439: The spaces on the first floor for events. Low's main entrance contains bronze and glass entrance doors leading to a double-height vestibule measuring 30 by 33 ft (9.1 by 10.1 m). The original doors were made of oak; McKim had proposed bronze doors be used but Low rejected the doors as "out of harmony with our ideals and with the ideals of my father". At the entryway are bronze busts of Zeus and Apollo . The vestibule has
22032-513: The stacks. The steps outside the library became a meeting area for Columbia undergraduates in the early years of the campus. In 1903 the Alma Mater sculpture was installed on the steps leading to the library. The collection was organized in a compartmentalized manner, and departments expanded at different rates, causing problems for the building's operation as a library. Nicholas Murray Butler , who had replaced Seth Low as university president,
22194-531: The statue might be completed in time for the university's 1902 commencement ceremony, delays in French's work (in part due to critiques from Augustus Saint-Gaudens , but largely due to strikes at the Jno. Williams, Inc. foundry) postponed the unveiling until September 23, 1903, the first day of classes for the 1903–1904 school year. At the ceremony, a prayer was given by Henry C. Potter , the 7th Bishop of New York and
22356-403: The statue's patina. In 1962, the university made the decision to apply a new bronze veneer. However, after protests, including by President Grayson L. Kirk , the new finish was removed and the patina restored. In 2002, the statue was restored again, changing her more uniform green patina hue to the green and brown mix that is seen today. The design of Alma Mater inspired a 1919 statue of
22518-463: The statue. Until this point, notable works of French's had included The Minute Man (1874) in Concord, Massachusetts and John Harvard (1884) at Harvard University . He also sculpted The Republic for the World's Columbian Exposition , a statue which would come to bear a strong resemblance to Alma Mater . It has been speculated that Audrey Munson , who was a prolific artist's model during
22680-452: The university and highlighting the university's relationship with the city of New York. As Professor of Historic Preservation Andrew Dolkart notes: After passing Alma Mater and reaching the campus level, the seeker must climb an even longer stairway, symbolically a "stairway to knowledge," to reach the entrance to the library. From the top of the stairs, members of the select Columbia community could turn and look out over New York, secure in
22842-547: The university at large. There was an evening school called University Extension, which taught night classes, for a fee, to anyone willing to attend. In 1947, the program was reorganized as an undergraduate college and designated the School of General Studies in response to the return of GIs after World War II . In 1995, the School of General Studies was again reorganized as a full-fledged liberal arts college for non-traditional students (those who have had an academic break of one year or more, or are pursuing dual-degrees) and
23004-536: The university neglected to return it until it was rediscovered in the basement of Low Library and sent to French's daughter, Margaret French Cresson , in 1950. Alma Mater , given its symbolic connection with the university, has been at the center of many protests at Columbia . During the student protests in 1970 in reaction to the Cambodian campaign and the Kent State shootings , the statue came to represent
23166-410: The university's central administrative offices since 1934. Columbia University president Seth Low funded the building with $ 1 million (equivalent to $ 37 million in 2023) and named the edifice in memory of his father, Abiel Abbot Low . Low's facade and interior are New York City designated landmarks , and the building is also designated as a National Historic Landmark . Low is arranged in
23328-574: The university's environmental footprint. The U.S. Green Building Council selected the university's Manhattanville plan for the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Neighborhood Design pilot program. Columbia has been rated "B+" by the 2011 College Sustainability Report Card for its environmental and sustainability initiatives. According to the A. W. Kuchler U.S. potential natural vegetation types, Columbia University would have
23490-409: The university's refusal to accept women. In 1896, university president Seth Low moved the campus from 49th Street to its present location, a more spacious campus in the developing neighborhood of Morningside Heights . Under the leadership of Low's successor, Nicholas Murray Butler , who served for over four decades, Columbia rapidly became the nation's major institution for research, setting
23652-557: The university. Community activist groups in West Harlem fought the expansion for reasons ranging from property protection and fair exchange for land, to residents' rights. Subsequent public hearings drew neighborhood opposition. As of December 2008 , the State of New York's Empire State Development Corporation approved use of eminent domain, which, through declaration of Manhattanville's "blighted" status, gives governmental bodies
23814-405: The vestibule's walls have plaster panels bordered by green-and-gold acanthus-leaf motifs, and band courses with Greek fretwork . Each corner of the vestibule has a pilaster similar to those flanking the west and east doors, as well as a wrought-iron lamp. The south wall has a narrow balcony illuminated by a lattice of crossbars; the north wall is a double window above a set of four steps leading to
23976-563: The west wing of the first floor was renovated as an office for the General of the U.S. Army Dwight D. Eisenhower when he became Columbia's president. Edmund Astley Prentis , and his wife and sister, donated a colonial-style drawing room to Low Library in 1960. Four years later, the north wing was turned into the Faculty Room, a reception hall with oak paneling. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) designated Low as
24138-482: Was celebrated in 1954. During the 1960s, student activism reached a climax with protests in the spring of 1968 , when hundreds of students occupied buildings on campus. The incident forced the resignation of Columbia's president, Grayson Kirk , and the establishment of the University Senate. Though several schools in the university had admitted women for years, Columbia College first admitted women in
24300-404: Was chosen because it closely resembles Connemara marble, which could not be used for the rotunda due to the scarcity of large pieces of that material. Bookcases rising to eye level were originally laced between the columns to give the impression of an enclosed space. Depictions of Roman and Greek luminaries Demosthenes , Euripides , Sophocles , and Augustus Caesar are placed on the balcony along
24462-588: Was cleaned, refinished with a new patina , and returned to the Low steps. Other noteworthy instances of protest involving Alma Mater include during the Columbia University protests of 1968 , when the statue was routinely vandalized and a sign which read "Raped by the cops" was placed on Alma Mater 's lap, and during the protests against the Iraq War , when students draped a black shroud over Alma Mater 's head and connected wires from her hands to
24624-460: Was completed, the Low building was used for events such as an exhibit of fine books, a show of Navajo art, and a display of rare religious art. Low was also used to host large ceremonies with notable guests of honor, including George VI and Queen Elizabeth of Britain, who visited Low in 1939, as well as British prime minister Winston Churchill and Queen Juliana of the Netherlands . In 1948
24786-471: Was designed in the Neoclassical style , incorporating many elements of Rome's Pantheon and Baths of Caracalla . It was funded by Seth Low , the president of Columbia University and later the mayor of New York City , in memory of his father Abiel Abbot Low . Low is arranged in the shape of a Greek cross , is aligned with the Manhattan street grid , and contains beveled corners. The main walls of
24948-402: Was designed with 150 windows, the smallest of which measures 10 by 4 ft (3.0 by 1.2 m). The upper section of the facade is clad in limestone, in contrast with the surrounding buildings, which are generally made of brick with limestone trim. The west, north, and east walls are designed with pilasters similar in design to the colonnade; the pilasters flank windows that are deeply set into
25110-430: Was doused with red paint. Alma Mater was largely praised upon its unveiling. The Columbia Daily Spectator described the statue as "characterized by a queenly dignity and repose", and stated that it "expresses the highest type of intellectual womanhood. In pose and gesture she invites the student of the University and gives him the welcome of Alma Mater." The New York Times , though it did not comment directly on
25272-521: Was fully integrated into Columbia's traditional undergraduate curriculum. The same year, the Division of Special Programs, later called the School of Continuing Education and now the School of Professional Studies , was established to reprise the former role of University Extension. While the School of Professional Studies only offered non-degree programs for lifelong learners and high school students in its earliest stages, it now offers degree programs in
25434-580: Was inspired by the Rotunda , the main library designed by Thomas Jefferson at the University of Virginia , and is also less directly evocative of the dome above the Pantheon. The 12 ft (3.7 m) high base of Low is made of granite. An 86 ft (26 m) wide staircase with 22 or 26 steps leads from the terrace to the main entrance portico on the building's south facade. The highest step,
25596-667: Was later repeated in an open letter by Columbia faculty that criticized the findings of the university's antisemitism task force. On April 22, 2024 the university moved all in-person classes online, with President Shafik saying that this decision would "deescalate the rancor and give us all a chance to consider next steps". In late April, several participants in the campus encampment occupied Hamilton Hall . While inside, these protestors overturned furniture, broke windows, and erected barricades. On April 30, Columbia University called New York Police Department to clear Hamilton Hall. Around 9 PM that night, NYPD officers in riot gear used
25758-425: Was looted and its sole building requisitioned for use as a military hospital first by American and then British forces. The legislature agreed to assist the college, and on May 1, 1784, it passed "an Act for granting certain privileges to the College heretofore called King's College". The Act created a board of regents to oversee the resuscitation of King's College, and, in an effort to demonstrate its support for
25920-442: Was observing crowded conditions at the library by 1902; according to American Architect magazine, "One or two utilitarian points have been rather sacrificed." In addition, the calling of books from the stacks was difficult. The 10,000 ft-long (3,000 m) pneumatic tube delivery system stopped working two weeks after it was installed, and a dumbwaiter system had also broken down. The crowding increased in later years because
26082-458: Was renamed Columbia College in 1784 following the American Revolution , and in 1787 was placed under a private board of trustees headed by former students Alexander Hamilton and John Jay . In 1896, the campus was moved to its current location in Morningside Heights and renamed Columbia University. Columbia is organized into twenty schools, including four undergraduate schools and 16 graduate schools. The university's research efforts include
26244-465: Was used by the sculptor to convey that interpretation." She also clarified that the statue was not a depiction of Pallas Athena or Minerva , but simply a personification of the university. When Alma Mater was originally installed it was gilded, although the original gilding wore away with time. In the late 1920s, French suggested re-gilding the statue, though this was not done; the few remaining flakes of gold were removed in 1950 in order to catalyze
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