NEW YORK — After a five-year hiatus, Columbia Athletics officially inducted its Hall of Fame Class of 2023 in front of a capacity crowd of alumni, fans and friends on Thursday, October 12, at Cipriani 25 on Broadway.
The 2023 Hall of Fame class includes 22 individuals and four teams representing 14 sports programs and over 141 years of Columbia Athletics history. There are 17 former student-athletes, along with four long-time staff members. The inductees were selected by a selection committee vote comprising former student-athletes and administrators from the athletics program and the university.
"This was a tremendous evening honoring such a special group of individuals and teams," Campbell Family Director of Intercollegiate Athletics & Physical Education Peter Pilling said. "Thank you to all of our generous sponsors for making this event possible in a world-class venue like Cipriani 25. Congratulations to all of the Class of 2023 inductees. We hope you all enjoyed your time back with your Columbia Lions family."
New York Mets play-by-play announcer and Columbia alumnus Gary Cohen '81CC emceed the black-tie event. The program featured messages from Barnard College President Laura Rosenbury to speak about the 40th anniversary of the Columbia-Barnard Consortium and Columbia University President, Minouche Shafik.
Three Olympians, Harry Babcock 1912SEAS (track & field), Katie Meili '13CC (swimming) and Nicole Ross '13CC (fencing), along with a pair of former professional athletes, former NFL veteran Josh Martin '13CC and baseball's Dario Pizzano '13CC, were among the honorees. In total, eight former student-athletes earned the honor on their first years on the ballots. Inductees must have graduated 10 years prior to the event to be eligible for induction.
Among four staff inductees, legendary Columbia men's tennis head coach Bid Goswami earned the call after 37 years at the helm of the Lions program. Goswami posted a career mark of 510-200 and won 14 Ivy League team titles, including six straight from 2013-19 to conclude a brilliant career.
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 2023 was also recognized during halftime of Saturday's Homecoming football game against Penn at Robert K. Kraft Field at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium.
The full list of the Columbia University Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2023 is as follows:
Men's Sports Student-Athletes, Heritage Era
Harry Babcock 1912SEAS (Track & Field)
Claude Benham '57CC (Football, Baseball)
Al Butts '64CC (Baseball, Football)
Bob Koehler '62CC (Baseball)
Men's Sports Student-Athletes, Modern Era
Ricky Free '79CC (Basketball)
Austin Knowlin '10CC (Football)
Josh Martin '13CC (Football)
Dario Pizzano '13CC (Baseball)
Steve Santos '13CC (Wrestling)
Shahin Shayan '80CC (Soccer)
Women's Sports Student-Athletes
Nicole Bartnik '13CC (Tennis)
Kyra Caldwell '12CC (Track & Field)
Sharay Hale '13CC (Track & Field)
Katie Meili '13CC (Swimming)
Libby Peters '06CC (Rowing)
Nicole Ross '13CC (Fencing)
Team, Heritage Era
1878 Heavyweight Rowing
Team, Modern Era
1976 Baseball
1992-1993 Men's & Women's Fencing
2006-07 Women's Golf
Athletics Staff
Al Carlson, Head Men's & Women's Golf Coach/Associate Athletics Director 1978-2015
Jim Gossett, Head Athletic Trainer/Associate Athletics Director 1979-2020
Bid Goswami, Head Men's Tennis Coach 1982-2019
Dr. M. Dianne Murphy, Director of Intercollegiate Athletics and Physical Education 2004-2015
Special Category
Andrew F. Barth '83CC '85BUS
Philip '71CC & Cheryl '82BC Milstein
Nominations for the Columbia University Athletics Hall of Fame were submitted by the general public with a deadline of March 3, 2023. Inductees are eligible in the following categories: Category 1: Men's Sports Student-Athletes – Heritage Era (prior to 1972-73), Category 2: Men's Sports Student-Athletes – Modern Era (1973-74 through 2012-13), Category 3: Women's Sports Student-Athletes (1898 to 2012-13), Category 4: Athletics Staff, Category 5: Teams – Heritage Era (1867 to 1972-73), Category 6: Teams – Modern Era (1973-74 to 2012-13), Category 7; Category 8: Special Category for Individual Achievement.
