Introducing Columbia College Golden Lions — a new community for alumni who have surpassed their milestone 50th reunion.
Columbia College Golden Lions will be invited to year-round opportunities to return to campus and stay connected to classmates and peers in adjacent classes, culminating in a special joint celebration for all Golden Lions classes at every Columbia Reunion.
Throughout the year Golden Lions will receive special invitations to dedicated programming, activities, and events.
Annual Golden Lions Events
- Special programing during Homecoming Weekend.
- Exclusive educational experiences led by renowned faculty.
- Welcome reception for the annual Alumni Parade of Classes at Class Day.
- Annual celebration and dedicated events for all Golden Lions at Columbia Reunion.
We look forward to welcoming Golden Lions back to campus throughout the year to celebrate the enduring connections among these classes and with Columbia College!
Reunion 2024
2023 Golden Lions Dinner featuring the jazz and swing band The Cotton Club Allstars.
April Renae Photography
Mark your calendars for Reunion 2024! This year's festivities will start on Thursday, May 30 and continue through Saturday, June 1 and are open to all alumni.
Save the date for the Golden Lions Dinner and Reception on Saturday, June 1. More information is forthcoming.
Schedule of Events
Class of 1974 and Golden Lions Dinner
- Friday, May 31, 2024 | 6:00-8:00pm EST
- Faculty House, Garden Room 1
- The Golden Lions (51st+ reunion) join the Class of 1974 for a celebratory dinner with a champagne toast welcoming the newest members to the Golden Lions Society
Golden Lions Reception and Dinner
- Saturday, June 1, 2024 | 6:30-9:00pm EST
- The Kraft Center for Jewish Student Life | 606 W. 115th Street
- The Golden Lions Reception and Dinner at Reunion is honored to welcome guest speaker Roger Lehecka CC’67, GSAS’74. Former dean of students and co-founder of Double Discovery Center, Lehecka will address “Six Myths About Higher Education,'' including misconceptions of affirmative action and the debate on legacy college admissions. Enjoy a cocktail reception, followed by a seated dinner and remarks by Roger Lehecka. Arrive by 6:30 p.m. for the group photo.
Read More: Roger Lehecka CC’67, GSAS’74
Roger Lehecka retired from a long career at Columbia University at the end of 2004. Among other positions he held at the University, he was Dean of Students for 19 years. He was a founder of Columbia's Upward Bound Program in 1965, an experience that taught him much about the ways access to college is not equally available to all talented youngsters. His three years with Upward Bound led to a career in higher education that always focused on expanding opportunity for those previously excluded from a college education. He remains involved at Columbia in a number of ways including the role of Executive Director of the Columbia Trustees' Presidential Search Committee in 2001 as well as teaching an Equity in Higher Education seminar with Professor Andrew Delbanco annually since 2007. In 2015 he received the Heritage Award from Columbia's Black Alumni Council. Outside Columbia for the last two decades, Mr. Lehecka has helped low-income students from New York City, rural Pennsylvania, and both coasts of Florida get admitted to good colleges and find the financial aid to attend. He continues to advise them throughout college, wherever they enroll, and help them through the difficult times most students face. The Double Discovery Center (DDC), a College program that works to foster college matriculation for low-income and first-generation middle and high school students in New York City, was renamed The Roger Lehecka Double Discovery Center in 2016. He was Chair of the DDC Board of Friends 2019-22 and is currently Chair of the Board of the Lenfest Scholars Foundation. Mr. Lehecka attended New York City public schools before entering Columbia College. He has a Masters degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education as well as an A.B. and M.Phil. from Columbia University.
Exploring Campus Architecture: From Morningside to Manhattanville
Barry Bergdoll CC’77, GSAS’86, the Meyer Schapiro Professor of Art History and director of undergraduate studies, art history, lead a special webinar for Columbia College Golden Lions exploring the evolution of Columbia’s campus architecture on February 9.
Bergdoll’s broad interests center on modern architectural history, with an emphasis on France and Germany since 1750. Trained in art history rather than architecture, he has an approach most closely allied with cultural history and the history and sociology of professions. Bergdoll has studied questions of the politics of cultural representation in architecture, the larger ideological content of 19th-century architectural theory and the changing role of both architecture as a profession and as a cultural product in 19th-century European society.
Past Events
Homecoming 2023
Robert E. Pollack CC'61, former Dean of the College and Emeritus Professor of Biology
To kick off our inaugural Golden Lions programming, Columbia College hosted the Golden Lions Breakfast on Friday, October 13 during Homecoming Weekend. We couldn't imagine a more perfect way to launch this new initiative than with a wonderful speech from former Dean of the College and Emeritus Professor of Biology Robert E. Pollack CC'61, followed by a stimulating discussion in the Trustees Room of Low Library.
