6 Iconic Inscriptions on Columbia's Morningside Campus You Should Know

Spend enough time in one place and you begin to notice the details. When you first arrive on Columbia's Morningside Heights campus, it is easy to be overwhelmed by the grandeur of neoclassical buildings like Low Library and Butler Library, or the beautiful sculptures scatted across campus. 

But spend a few more months or years here and suddenly, the subtle details emerge — Latin phrases etched in stone, names of long since passed alumni who thought to leave their mark on the campus for future generations to come. 

How many of us pass by these details daily without truly exploring their meaning and backstories? Below, we've selected six particularly inspiring inscriptions on the Morningside Heights campus that you can tuck into your back pocket — a motto for a rainy day, wisdom to guide you, or, perhaps, a deeper investment in our mutually lived spaces.

"Love. Cherish. Defend It."

Western Flagpole

There is something incredibly powerful about the directive "Love, Cherish, Defend It," which stands inscribed at the base of the flagpole to the west of Low Library. It makes you want to rush off and, well, defend something!

But what was the original meaning of these words and who put them there?

Luckily, University Archives has the deets on this war memorial:

"Two flags were presented to Columbia on May 20, 1896, the day on which two of the cornerstones were laid for the original campus buildings. The flags were presented by members of the Grand Army of the Republic Post No. 140, Lafayette Post.

"The Grand Army of the Republic, the first national veterans organization in the United States, was a fraternal organization for men who had served in the Union Army during the Civil War. Called to the flag of 'peace, justice and prosperity,' those gathered on that day were asked to 'love, cherish and defend it,' the words that are written on the bronze tablet at the base of the flagpole."

"Speak to the Earth and it Shall Teach Thee"

Schermerhorn Hall

Schermerhorn Hall, which today houses many departments, was built in 1897 to house the natural sciences. So it is only fitting that the inscription above the door pays homage to the number-one lesson anyone working in Earth and Environmental Sciences knows to be true: "Speak to the Earth and It Shall Teach Thee."

Interestingly, this is a line from the King James Bible, Job 12:8, encouraging readers to learn from the world around them. 

It is a line that had an impact on Columbia College alumnus Niles Eldridge (CC'65, GSAS'69), the curator emeritus in the Division of Paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, who described Schermerhorn Hall as his favorite place on campus to Columbia College Today: "Schermerhorn Hall, with 'Speak to the Earth and It Shall Teach Thee' carved into a slab of Indiana limestone above its entrance-way doors; it became the focus of my campus life."

“Ius Est Ars Boni Et Aequi”

Kent Hall

Kent Hall was initially built to house Columbia Law School, which it did from 1910 to 1960, which might help explain the Latin inscription that sits above its main doors: “Ius Est Ars Boni Et Aequi,” or "The law is the art of goodness and equity."

The phrase is attributed to the preamble of Justinian's Digest, a compilation of Roman law, which credits Roman multi-hyphenate Aulus Cornelius Celsus with coining the phrase. It begs the question and offers some food for thought for those who pass by: which comes first in regard to the law — goodness or justice?

You can learn more about some other special details on Kent Hall from Columbia Libraries here.

“In Lumine Tuo Videbimus Lumen”

St. Paul's Chapel

When it comes to the big dogs of iconic inscriptions, nothing can beat the Latin phrase “In Lumine Tuo Videbimus Lumen," which can be found under St. Paul's Chapel's larger-scale inscription of "Pro Ecclesia Dei," or "For the Church of God."

"In Lumine Tuo Videbimus Lumen," is translated as "In your light we see the light," and also happens to be Columbia University's motto. 

The phrase is a Latin translation of Psalm 36:9 from the Hebrew book of Psalms (Praises), believed to be written by King David. 

While the light referenced in the original phrase is likely interpreted as God's light, it has another meaning — in the light, ideas, and brilliance of our students and community, we see the light, or way forward.

“Hic Labor, Haec Quies”

Southern College Walk Pylon

Enter Columbia's campus from the main gates at 116th and Broadway, and you are immediately ushered into a realm of science, arts, and knowledge by two pylons flanked the north and south of College Walk.

The sculpture to the right side features a pylon named "Letters," which was a gift from the Columbia College Class of 1890 in June 1915.

Weather-beaten and barely visible, the pylon bears the inspiring, and fitting, inscription: "Hic Labor, Haec Quies," which roughly translates to "Letters should be the employment of our serious hours as well as our hours of leisure." 

Book worms, unite! This inscription appears to be a reference to a longer passage by Pliny the Younger, a magistrate of Ancient Rome who left  behind a large collection of letters for posterity: "Hoc sit negotium tuum hoc otium; hic labor haec quies; in his vigilia, in his etiam somnus reponatur. Effinge aliquid et excude, quod sit perpetuo tuum. Nam reliqua rerum tuarum post te alium atque alium dominum sortientur, hoc numquam tuum desinet esse si semel coeperit."

The longer passage translates to: "[Books are] what should be both business and pleasure, work and recreation, and should occupy your thoughts awake and asleep! Create something, perfect it to be yours for all time; for everything else you possess will fall to one or another master after you are dead, but this will never cease to be yours once it has come into being."

If that doesn't inspire you to create something amazing during your time at Columbia, this writer is not sure what will. 

To the left, a pylon bearing the Latin inscription "Scientia," or "Science," was gifted by the Columbia College Class of 1925.

Columbia College Today has the full story of the pylons and their inscriptions here. 

“Horam Expecta Veniet”

Sundial

Another spot, another beautiful Latin phrase meant to inspire existential questioning. "Horam Expecta Veniet" is the inscription that can be found atop the Sundial at the center of campus. 

The Sundial was gifted to the University by the Columbia College Class of 1885. Originally, a 16-ton granite sphere sat upon its base, but it was removed in 1946 after developing a crack, Columbia College Today reports. 

At that time, the Sundial tracked both the time of day and the date, a rarity as far as sundials go. This original use best explains the Latin inscription "Horam Expecta Veniet," or "wait for the hour and it will come."

This author cannot find an attribution for the phrase, but there is something inherently truthful and even spooky about the saying that sets the mind to wander. Is it about the ephemeral nature of time? The impatient nature of youth? The base truth that by the simple act of waiting, time will come to pass?

I guess we'll never know, but it is sure worth spending an afternoon near the Sundial, pondering.

You can learn more about the Sundial here, from Columbia Libraries.