NEW YORK –A capacity crowd of alumni, fans and friends of Columbia Athletics witnessed the induction of the Columbia University Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2018 Thursday evening in the Low Memorial Library Rotunda on Columbia University's Morningside Heights campus.
 
Seventeen individuals and four teams representing 14 different varsity sports programs and seven schools within the University were inducted into Columbia Athletics' eighth Hall of Fame class. There were 15 former student-athletes along with two long-time staff members inducted. The inductees were selected by a vote of a selection committee comprised of Columbia Athletics affiliates, including alumni and athletics administrators.
 
"We are thrilled to induct another outstanding group of individuals and teams into our Athletics Hall of Fame," Campbell Family Director of Intercollegiate Athletics & Physical Education Peter Pilling said. "This special event honors each of these outstanding teams and individuals and recognizes the foundation that each has laid for our athletics programs and future Columbia student-athletes. Congratulations to the Columbia Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2018."
 
New York sports personality and Columbia Athletics announcer Sal Licata emceed the black-tie event.
 
The honorees include two key members of the 1968 Ivy League Champion men's basketball team, Heyward Dotson and David Newmark. Dotson was a three-time All-Ivy League selection before earning a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford. A 7-foot center, Newmark went to play in the National Basketball Association for the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks.
 
Coinciding with the 35^th anniversary of the Columbia-Barnard Consortium, the 1985-86 women's basketball squad that went 21-6 and received a bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament takes its place among the Lions' elite. Additionally, former Barnard College President Ellen Futter '71BC, who was instrumental in the creation of the consortium, was honored for her accomplishments.
 
Other inductees included Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer and first head coach in the men's basketball program's history, Harry A. Fisher, Barton Nisonson, who was the 1962 NCAA Sabre Champion and went on to serve as the orthopedic surgeon for the New York Jets and New York Rangers, and long-time administrator Ken Torrey, who was instrumental in the start of Columbia's varsity squash programs.
 
Columbia's athletics program has featured some of the most notable names in American sports history. Among the members of the Columbia University Athletics Hall of Fame's inaugural class in 2006, were baseball Hall of Famers Lou Gehrig 1921-23CC and Eddie Collins 1907CC, college football legends Sid Luckman '39CC and Lou Little (head coach), as well as former Olympic Gold Medalist Swimmer and Honda-Broderick Award-winner Cristina Teuscher '00CC. A list of past Hall of Fame inductees can be accessed at this link.
 
The Columbia University Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2018 will also be recognized during halftime of Saturday's Homecoming football game against Dartmouth at Robert K. Kraft Field at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium.
 
Members of the Columbia University Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2018 include:
 
Male Student-Athletes, Heritage Era
Norman Armitage '27CC, '29SEAS, Fencing
Barton Nisonson '62CC, '66P&S, Fencing
Ray Ruddy '32CC, Swimming & Diving
Charles Sands '1887CC, Golf/Tennis
 
Male Student-Athletes, Modern Era
Liam Boylan-Pett '08CC, Track & Field
Heyward Dotson '70CC, '76LAW, Basketball
Don Jackson '73CC, '80BUS, Football
David Newmark '69CC, Basketball
Michael M. Wilhite '78CC, '07AC, Baseball
 
Female Student-Athletes
Diana Diep '96SEAS, Archery
Katie Beauregard Sheehy '03CC '06LAW, Volleyball
Erin Raggio Eriksen '03CC, Track & Field
Heather Ruddock '88CC, Track & Field
Anna Martens Davidson '89CC, Swimming & Diving
Charlene Schuessler Fideler '90BC, Basketball
 
Team, Heritage Era
1950-51 Men's Fencing
 
Team, Modern Era
1973 Men's Tennis
1980-81 Wrestling
 
Team, Female
1985-86 Women's Basketball
 
Athletics Staff
Harry Fisher, Men's Basketball
George "Butch" Seewagen, Men's Tennis
Ken Torrey, Administrator
 
Special Category
Ellen Futter, Former Barnard College President
 
Nominations for the Columbia University Athletics Hall of Fame were submitted by the general public by the deadline of March 18, 2018. Inductees are eligible in the following categories: Category 1: Male Student-athletes – Heritage Era (prior to 1968-69), Category 2: Male Student-athletes – Modern Era (1968-69-2007-08), Category 3: Female Student-athletes (1898 to 2007-08), Category 4: Athletics Staff, Category 5: Teams – Heritage Era (1867 to 1967-68), Category 6: Teams – Modern Era (1968-69 to 2010-11), Category 7: Teams – Female (1898 – 2007-08), Category 8: Special Category for Individual Achievement.