At Columbia, the name "Alma Mater" refers to this statue in front of Low Library, and many legends are associated with it. The Low Library, in the dead center of the campus, is today not an academic library, but an administration building.

For me during this visit of New York City, the Alma Mater was my matron saint of photography, with her pedestal serving as a great makeshift tripod during my night photo sessions the previous evening. I was finding the Columbia campus to be very photogenic, something I had never noticed despite spending years here in the 1990s.

Columbia University is located in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, bordering Harlem to the north and east and Upper West Side to the south. The McKim, Meade, and White architectural team designed the current campus in the late 1890s, replacing older campuses further downtown.