Lake Erie Anthro Institute

Lake Erie Anthro Institute is a university in Cleveland, OH, bordering Lake Erie. Established in 1917 and originally known as Lake Erie Avian and Reptilian, this college houses an average of 19,350 students a year. They maintain a Division I level athletic program, which includes sports such as baseball, basketball, football and water polo.

History

LEAI (LEAR) was formed 4 years after Great Lakes Mammalia in 1917 and as a direct result of the aforementioned institution's Mammals Only policy for applicants. It became one of only a few colleges in Ohio which did not allow mammals to attend, although the Dean and all staff members refused to admit to the outright refusal of mammalian applicants, sticking by their claim that no mammals had ever applied there, therefore they had never refused any.

The college did receive its first mammal student in 1941 (George Finn), coincidentally the year after it's cross-state rival, GLM, publically ended their Mammals Only stance. In 2014, the student body of the school reported as 65% reptilian, 25% avian, and only 5% mammalian.

Sports

The biggest rival school to LEAI by far is Great Lakes Mammalia, whose teams have been clashing ferociously in all its sports since LEAI was founded in 1917. The two colleges' heyday was in the 1970's, when they met in the FCAA Final Four 5 times (with GLM taking each contest but the last, in 1979). Nowadays both institutions lack the funding to compete with most top DivI programs, and most top prospects shy away from attending the schools in favor of more well-known universities.

FBA

Though not having a great deal of recognition in any sport aside from its basketball program in the 70's, LEAI has had a few of its athletes make it into the FBA. The most documented is George Finn Jr. (Beaver, G), who happened to be the son of the first mammal student accepted into the school. Finn Jr. was drafted in 1967 by the Plymouth Taproots and was a solid role-player throughout his 10 year career. However, there have been a few more successful players from LEAI, including Ronald Hardtooth (Crocodile, C) who helped LEAI to their only FCAA title in 1979 after beating their rivals, GLM. Hardtooth was drafted by the Dakota Bikers in their inaugural year (1979) and made 6 FBA All-Star games while there ('82, '83, '85, '87, '88, '89). He also played for the Tuscon Demons and the Rocky Mountain Royals. His number 59 is retired by the Dakota Bikers.