E-mail Responses
The Task Force has begun collecting e-mail responses sent to rotc-taskforce@columbia.edu. All submissions are considered for public consumption. If you wish your name or your opinions redacted, please contact the Task Force. The Task Force will accept submissions up to 11:59 PM on Wednesday, March 2, 2011.
From: John Huber
Sent: Sun 2/13/2011 8:31 PM
Subject: support for ROTC
I
am writing to express strong
support for having an ROTC presence on campus.
Over the years, West Point has sent a number of students to our
political
science department for their PhDs, a relationship which has
been
mutually beneficial. On the one hand, we hope and
believe
that the West Point students gain a great deal from our
program. As an
example, one PhD student from the Army wrote a recent book
(based on his
dissertation) about the political attitudes of soldiers. It
has gotten a
lot of attention because the main finding -- that non-officers in the
army have
attitudes that more or less mirror those of society -- runs counter to
what
everyone believed (which was that soldiers are more conservative than
society). It's a nice example of how studying at a place like
Columbia
can allow army offices to produce research findings that change the way
the
armed forces are understood by society. On the other other
hand, having
soldiers in our classes improves the work that faculty and other grad
students do by challenging the assumptions we bring to our
work, and by shaping
the questions we ask about the military and about international
conflict.
It's a win-win exchange, and we hope that West Point continues to send
us
students.
I can't believe that the same sorts of mutual benefits would not exist
if
members of the armed services could attend Columbia's undergraduate
programs
through ROTC. Students and faculty would gain new insights
about the
military and its role in American society. And ROTC students
would gain
what every other student at CU gains -- a great education that
constantly
challenges one's assumptions about how the world works. So
having ROTC
would enrich our environment by diversifying it in a very meaningful
way.
Although the value of this diversity should be enough to justify ROTC,
there is
another reason as well -- higher education institutions like Columbia
owe this
sort of commitment to American society. The extent
to which the
armed services are successful at defining and executing their mission
has a big
impact not just on our security, but also on how America is
perceived
around the world. If we believe that a Columbia education is a good
thing in
large part because it enhances the ability of students to understand
and
interpret and interact with the world outside Columbia, then a Columbia
education would benefit students from the military
for these same
reasons. Thus, by educating members of the military at
Columbia, we would
strengthen the military by enriching it intellectually. If we
believe
such an outcome is a good thing -- and I strongly believe it is -- it
would be
a shame to turn our back on the possibility of making this contribution.
John Huber
Professor and Chair
Department of Political Science
From: Ryan Alexander Artze-de Toledo
Sent: Sat 2/12/2011 11:09 PM
Subject: ROTC on campus
Dear taskforce,
I am very pleased to hear that
Columbia has started to
revise its decision on not allowing ROTC recruiters on campus. This
policy was
originally put in place to appease student protesters during the
Vietnam War.
But the war is over now and yet the policy still exists.
There is no reason why it should
remain in place,
especially now that DADT has been repealed. I for one am glad that it
has been
repealed and so does the vast majority of the students here at
Columbia. To
continue this practice of not allowing recruiters to come to campus
will only
tarnish Columbia's image.
PS: I have no problem with this
email being posted
publicly.
From: Chad Kaschube
Sent: Sat 2/12/2011 12:47 PM
Subject: Consideration
Team,
Rather than deciding whether or
not to let ROTC on the
campus of Columbia University, we should ask ourselves if there is a
reason not
to. The ROTC
program has no malicious
intent. Participants
in the program are
honorable people that would give their life to keep us free. Excluding them will
deprive some of the
bravest men and women in the world of a first class education at one of
the
best universities in the world. Columbia
University has a long history of dedication to diversity and inclusion. This should be no
exception.
Chad Kaschube
From: Charles A. Kaufmann
Sent: Sat 2/12/2011 12:30 PM
Subject: Comments on ROTC at CU
Dear Sir or Madam:
The
University has always seen the presentation of different, and at times
conflicting, points of view as central to its mission. This
essential part of the University's identity has made me proud to be a
member of the faculty.
In that spirit, should the
University Senate elect to permit ROTC recruitment on campus, I hope
that it also takes proactive steps to permit, support, and encourage
the presence of other organizations devoted to alternative, non-violent
approaches to conflict resolution. I further hope that the
University will give these organizations as much exposure as it does
military organizations on campus and suggest that the University
consider drawing attention to these organizations along side any
comminuques regarding ROTC that it might issue..
We live
in a world where armed conflict is an horrific, but necessary,
reality. I ardently believe, however, that as an institution
devoted to the betterment of society, the University bears an ethical
and civic responsibiltiy to actively work toward the day when such
carnage will no longer be necessary.
Most sincerely,
Charles A. Kaufmann, M.D.
Clinical Professor of Psychiatry (retired)
Columbia University
Conscientious Objector during the
Vietnam War Era
From: Stephen Snowder
Sent: Fri 2/11/2011 10:41 PM
Subject: ROTC Task Force
Hello,
As a Columbia
student-veteran in the school of General Studies, I am extremely
concerned
about the makeup of your task force. Why is there not a single GS
student on
the task force? As you may know, the overwhelming majority of veterans
at
Columbia are in the school of General Studies. We are folks who
actually have
some experience with the military and would no doubt have a lot to
contribute
to your exploration of this issue. I urge you to consider adding a GS
student
Cordially,
Stephen
Snowder
From: Allan Silver
Sent: Fri 2/11/2011 9:25 PM
Subject: Task Force Submissions
The two documents attached may be freely published as they stand. -- Allan Silver
From: Corey Hirsch
Sent: Sat 2/12/2011 3:54 AM
Subject: Fw: Update from the University Senate Task Force on Military
Engagement
Dear University Senate Task Force
on Military Engagement,
Any active measure to prevent
engagement is ill advised
in my view. Even
Sincerely,
From: Jon Demiglio
Sent: Fri 2/11/2011 8:42 PM
Subject: Concern
I oppose any and all Columbia
University involvement with
the Armed Forces and ROTC. Any
place of
learning and growth that allows itself to be tied to a machine that
kills in
the name of freedom reveals itself to be lacking in the critical
thinking
skills it attempts to teach its students.
Jon Demiglio
From: Daniel Sims
Sent: Wed 2/9/2011 3:35 PM
Subject: A point you are missing
To Whom It May Concern:
From what I've read on Bwog, both sides are making great points,
however I
think those points are mute when you consider this: Columbia has a
chance to
direct the course of the military. By fully embracing the army, we can
have
people who have been exposed to the core curriculum in leadership
positions. As
a student taking CC, I feel it would be very hard for anyone to
discriminate
after reading those texts. We should ignore the past of the military
and look
at the change we can make, we can have cadets trained in
gender-studies, moral
philosophy and other skills that will help them make reasoned arguments
should
the run into any unmoral actions in the army. This is especially import
as the
army begins to move to reject DADT for, while the law can be changed
over
night, the culture still remains. We, together with ROTC, can build up
people
strong enough to make those changes.
Thank you for allowing me to comment,
Daniel Sims
SEAS Sophomore MechE
From: Edgar M. Housepian
Sent: Tue 2/8/2011 12:46 PM
Subject: Why Columbia should reinstate ROTC on Campus
Now that the furor over "don't ask
-don't-tell"
has been resolved there are two reasons that ROTC and military
recruiting
should be allowed back on campus:
First: our
military will be better served by having
college educated officers.
Second:
Columbia students must not be shut-out of the scholarships that
accompanies
ROTC enrollment.
Edgar M. Housepian, M.D. CC '49;
P&S '53
Professor
Emeritus of Clinical Neurological Surgery
From: Sean Wilkes
Sent: Sun 2/6/2011 3:44 PM
Subject: ROTC in New York City: An Untapped Resource
(From http://www.securenation.org/rotc-in-new-york-city-an-untapped-resource/)
John Renehan writes in the Washington Post today about the need for more ROTC programs across the country. In light of Harvard’s policies on access to military recruiters, brought up during Senate hearings for the nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court, Renehan notes an increasing dearth of opportunities for military officer training, particularly in the Northeast. This raises an important point. The long-standing contention surrounding the presence of ROTC on university campuses has not been limited merely to a select number of Ivy League institutions, though they have often been the most prominent and vocal in opposing the program. Moreover, they are not solely to blame. As this WSJ data shows, the military has been slowly but surely reducing its presence in the urban Northeast in favor of institutions in the South and Midwest. Despite having a population comparable to that of entire states, for example, the resources afforded to New York City for officer training and recruitment appear paltry when compared to its corollaries in other parts of the country. The city deserves better. Here are just a few reasons why:
- New York City has a population of over 8 million people. There are over 605,000 college and graduate students going to school in New York City, the largest university student population of any city in the United States. Yet the city boasts a mere 30 to 40 ROTC graduates each year.
- New York “is the nation’s largest importer of college students.” That is, of students who leave their home state to attend college, more leave for New York than any other place in the country.
- With over 8 million residents, New York City has a greater population than either the state of Virginia or North Carolina. While both Virginia and North Carolina maintain twelve Army ROTC programs each, however, New York City hosts only two, both of which are granted the same resources and personnel as every other ROTC program in the country despite the enormous differences in population for which they are responsible.
- Both ROTC Programs are located a significant distance away from the areas most concentrated in colleges and universities and are not easily accessible via subway, a fact that can be problematic given that the vast majority of students in the city do not own cars.
- The Air Force hosts a single ROTC program at Manhattan College in the Bronx. It is the most easily accessible via subway, though the commute is still significant for students attending school in any of the other five boroughs, particularly Queens, Brooklyn, and Staten Island.
- The Navy ROTC program, on the other hand, is located beneath the Throggs Neck Bridge and is almost completely inaccessible via public transportation. Moreover, enrollment in the program is strictly limited to students attending SUNY Maritime Academy, Fordham University, or Molloy College. Thus, out of the 600,000+ university students in New York City the Navy is limited to selecting from a collective population of less than 20,000.
- Nearly 60% of Manhattan residents are college graduates, more than twice the national average. Though the 23 SqMi island is host to over 1.6 million people and 40 colleges and universities alone, not a single school in the borough of Manhattan has an ROTC program.
- Neither is there an ROTC program in Brooklyn, which as CPT Steve Trynosky noted in 2006 is “home to a diverse population about the size of Mississippi, which has five Army ROTC units despite a much lower per capita college attendance. In 2005, two of the top five ZIP codes for Army enlistments were in Brooklyn, yet there are no commissioning opportunities in the borough. Could one imagine no ROTC programs for the population of Mississippi?”
- The City University of New York (CUNY) is the third largest public university system in the nation, ranking behind only California State and the State University of New York systems, though all of its campuses reside within a single city rather than an entire state. It provides post-secondary higher education in all five boroughs of New York.
- The CUNY system has over 450,000 students and confers nearly 3 percent of all bachelor’s degrees awarded to African-Americans in the United States. Gen. Colin Powell graduated from the ROTC program at City College, CUNY’s flagship campus. Yet today there is not a single ROTC program at any CUNY school.
- New York City also has a vast array of private universities, including Columbia University, the fifth oldest institution of higher education in the country, and New York University, the nation’s largest private, non-profit university. Yet neither university hosts a program nor do they graduate more than a handful of military officers per year.
- The recent Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) emphasizes the need to ensure that “officers are prepared for the full range of complex missions that the future security environment will likely demand” and that the DoD is committed to “building expertise in foreign language, regional, and cultural skills,” and “enhancing these skills in general purpose force officers during pre-accession training.” As Eric Chen noted in a previous Secure Nation post, New York City offers a breadth of resources in these areas that are unmatched elsewhere in the country. Take, for example, the latent talent and skill sets offered by the astoundingly diverse population of Queens, a New York City borough in which 138 different languages are spoken every day. West Point’s Social Sciences Department routinely takes their cadets on trips to nearby Jersey City to immerse them in the city’s large and vibrant muslim community. But why stop at immersing cadets in a cultural center when one can also recruit from it? Jersey City is just a five minute subway ride from the middle of Manhattan, but the closest Army ROTC program is located miles away at Seton Hall University. Mr. Chen goes on to note that Columbia University is particularly well suited to meet the needs espoused within the QDR, an argument which is supported by the high quality of the school’s top-ranked programs in Asian languages, anthropology, and sociology.
- The number of programs in the city correlates directly with the resources that the military departments grant towards both the recruitment and training of military officers there. As CPT Trynosky again noted “The allocation of ROTC recruiting assets in urban areas is insufficient to serve the large population assigned. Three recruiting officers are expected to canvass the more than 100 colleges and 13 million people in New York City, Long Island and Westchester County. Compare this with the 10 recruiters assigned for 4.5 million Alabamans or five for 2.5 million Mississippians.”
- The scarcity of commissioning opportunities in New York City is pronounced. With the scars of September 11th still prominently visible even today, New Yorkers have a distinctly personal stake in the military and its operations overseas. They should be afforded every opportunity to become military officers, and to serve proudly in defense of their city and the nation.
Posted on 4 July, 2010
--Sean is an Army Captain currently studying at Harvard. The views expressed are his own and do not represent those of Harvard University or the United States Government.
From: Michael Segal, MD
Sent: Sun 2/6/2011 7:53 PM
Subject: Issues and Myths about ROTC
To members of the Task Force:
As a graduate of both Columbia (MD’83
PhD’82) and Harvard
(undergraduate), and a faculty member at Harvard at the time, in 2002 I
was the
one who set up the Advocates for ROTC web site (www.AdvocatesForROTC.org)
to
coordinate the newly formed Advocates for Columbia ROTC and the
existing groups
Advocates for Harvard ROTC and Advocates for Yale ROTC. Many
of you are
aware of the extensive listings of coverage of the ROTC issue on our
site, and
I hope that members of the Task Force will see those as a
resource.
I am writing to let you know of a new
section of the site,
in which we take a constructive centrist approach to the “Issues and
Myths”
about ROTC that have arisen in the post-DADT era. There are
people on the
left who are unalterably opposed to ROTC, and they have the easy task
of
finding as many problems with the military as possible. There
are also
people on the right who are unalterably disdainful of top colleges, and
they
have the easy task of finding as many problems with the university as
possible. We, in contrast, have dedicated ourselves to the
important task
of trying to reconcile the cultures of the military and the university,
proposing
constructive ways in which the military and the university can
engage.
We have done so in “vision” articles,
such as that of a
“Blueprint for Columbia ROTC” prepared by alumnus Eric Chen (http://www.securenation.org/blueprint-for-columbia-rotc/)
and a similar Blueprint for Harvard ROTC that I prepared (http://www.securenation.org/blueprint-for-harvard-rotc/).
What I wish to share in this message is another approach that focused
on
specific “Issues and Myths” that will come up in your
deliberations. We
list these at www.advocatesforrotc.org/issues/.
We plan to update the existing items and add new ones as the discussion
proceeds, but it seemed appropriate to share the existing items now.
Issue: DADT was
repealed, but continuing
discrimination against transgender people in the military violates
university
non-discrimination policies
Instances
of this issue:
Yale
Herald blog post,
Stanford
Students for Queer Liberation
and Harvard
Crimson op-ed.
A Huffington Post item
raises a similar issue about whether ROTC should be allowed while gays
in the
military "suffer sharp disparities from not being permitted to
marry".
Facts: Non-discrimination
policies at universities, such as those at Columbia,
Harvard,
Stanford and
Yale,
do include transgender people, using language referring to
"gender-identity". As detailed in the instances above, and in
a
report
prepared for the Palm Center, a variety of military regulations treat
transgender status as an exclusionary factor for military service.
Some
of the military regulations reference civilian psychiatric
diagnostic classifications;
which list not only Gender
Identity Disorder in Adolescents or Adults
but also Premature
Ejaculation,
but it appears that none of the military regulations are required by
law.
Accordingly, the military can leverage some of the individual privacy
infrastructure planned to implement DADT repeal to accommodate
transgender
people in the military without needing action by Congress.
However, it is
far from clear that the Obama administration would do so until the
repeal of
DADT has been implemented and the privacy infrastructure is
already in place. Some
LGBT activists raise
practical concerns for people undergoing gender transitions
while in the military, while other
situations, such as performing gender assignment surgery for ambiguous
genitalia on adults instead of newborns, as is current medical
practice, raise
fewer practical concerns.
More generally, it is not
clear how far the
military will or should move to make its non-discrimination policies
identical
to those of universities. For example, the university
non-discrimination
statements also protect non-citizens and other individuals such as
those with
disabilities, whose service in the military could be problematic in
some
cases. Harvard's
non-discrimination policy
includes the phrase "unrelated to course requirements"; the
equivalent in the military would be factors that are deemed problematic
for
military service such as disabilities or being significantly
overweight. Since being eligible for military commission is a
prerequisite
for taking certain ROTC courses, such factors could be considered
related to
course requirements.
At some universities, the
non-discrimination
statements also refer to "veteran status" or "military
status". It would be ironic if the non-discrimination
statements
were to be cited as a reason to discriminate against ROTC.
The university
non-discrimination statements often
include language such as "legally protected status",
"consistent with its obligations under the law" and "protected
by applicable law", wording that recognizes that the purposes of the
non-discrimination statements is to implement existing law.
Issue: ROTC students are told not to access the
WikiLeaks site
Instances of
this issue: In
a Silicon
Valley
Mercury News op-ed,
a professor describes a memo
received by
ROTC
saying that ROTC students were not permitted to access the WikiLeaks
web
site. He said that professors were thinking of requiring
students to
access the WikiLeaks web site, and described the ROTC memo as
infringing on
academic freedom. He speculates that in the future ROTC
students could be
prohibited from "reading material critical of U.S. military actions in
Iraq or Vietnam".
In a meeting at Stanford on
ROTC, the head of the
Stanford ad hoc committee on ROTC was handed
a copy of the Mercury News article by an anti-war activist and then
held it up
and said
"What this looks like is, censorship could be imposed on a class that
Stanford has a hand in managing ... This, I think, would be
problematic."
Facts:
The federal government
considers accessing the WikiLeaks web site to be involvement
in a crime,
and has put in place for now a ban
on millions of federal employees accessing the WikiLeaks web site.
A Department
of
Defense memo
makes clear that there is no restriction in the military on accessing
"unclassified, publicly available news reports (and other unclassified
material), as distinguished from access to the underlying classified
documents
available on public websites or otherwise in the public
domain". The
memo also explains that no military personnel are allowed to access the
classified documents using government computers or private computers
that have
remote access to government systems unless they have authorization to
do
so. It appears that ROTC students are not barred
from accessing the
documents from private computers without remote access to government
systems,
However, many commanders are advising
the students that accessing the classified documents may inadvertently
cause
them practical issues when answering
questions to
obtain their initial security clearances.
But advice has not been standardized, and there is even one
claim
that "ROTC students are under the same set of orders as regular
military
personal".
The resulting dilemma for
ROTC students is that
university professors may require them to access classified information
in a
way that the federal government considers illegal, and doing so could
cause the
student problems in obtaining security clearance needed to serve as an
officer. There are a variety of ways to bridge this gap; for
example,
faculty could offer the option to students not to access classified
documents,
recognizing the impropriety of forcing students to do something that
the
federal government considers illegal. Another way to bridge
this gap is
for the military to amend its advice to include language about an
individual
not having accessed classified documents "except when the document is
available publicly and the individual was required to access the
document as
part of an academic course", or grant such authorization
in individual cases.
A change in what the federal government considers illegal could also
solve this
issue.
In a related
incident,
Columbia University was contacted by a State Department official who
suggested
that students applying for federal jobs avoid commenting on documents
released
by WikiLeaks. The university responded by advising students
that they
have a right to discuss publicly available material. However,
the
Columbia situation differed in that it included situations in which
students
would read about material in newspapers, the students were not in
contractual
relationships with the federal government, and the university was free
to
ignore the position of the federal government on what is illegal.
A current company commander
adds:
The executive branch, which
is charged with
carrying out the laws of the United States, has asserted that viewing
wikileaks
material constitutes a violation of law. Whether you disagree with this
or not,
compelling students to violate the law should still be impermissible.
It should
be stressed that it is perfectly valid to argue about whether the law
is
appropriate while still maintaining respect for the rule of law. And
this sort
of expression is appropriate and even encouraged within the ROTC among
cadets
and military professors.
For example I recently had a
discussion with a
couple of cadets and lieutenants who work for me about whether the
federal
government's interpretation of the law regarding wikileaks is
appropriate or
even correct. It was a very in-depth conversation with some very smart
young
officers. And this was not even in a classroom environment but a
professional
military one. Some disagreed with the interpretation, and felt
perfectly free
to express this to me (their commanding officer), as I would with my
commanding
officer.
This is analogous to an
academic discussion on the
legality and ethics of the prohibition of marijuana usage (a
prohibition of
which I am a staunch opponent I might add). As a professor I can
require my
students to discuss the appropriateness and legality of prohibiting the
use and
sale of marijuana. But I can't compel them to USE marijuana or to
OBTAIN
marijuana because in doing so I would be compelling them to break the
law,
notwithstanding the fact that I disagree vehemently with the law.
This is a great example of
the sort of value an
ROTC program can bring to the table. Cadets and military officers are
intimately familiar with the needs and requirements of working with
classified
material. An ROTC cadet would be able to articulate with first-hand
knowledge
how the federal ruling on accessing wikileaks material might be
problematic,
and why for example such a heavy-handed application of the law might
in-fact be
unnecessary.
Issue: Should ROTC be kept away from top
colleges, in favor of
Officer Candidate School after graduation?
Instance of
the issue: In a
Washington Post op-ed
column,
a former secretary of the navy and a professor of military history
suggest
reversing the "near-elimination of Officer Candidate School billets for
those without prior enlisted service" instead of expanding ROTC at top
colleges because "faculties are likely to be unenthusiastic".
Facts:
Similar suggestions have
been made about eliminating service academies (here
and here),
with estimates of their costs being 2-4 times as high as for
ROTC. One of the arguments given against the service
academies, but
for ROTC, is that it good for civilians and future officers to interact.
New officers
are currently produced in the
following proportions: 23% from Service Academies, 40% from ROTC and
38% from
Officer Candidate School (FY
2009);
not counting direct appointments such as doctors). The
proposition can be
debated that one should get rid of service academies and ROTC and train
all
officers in OCS. However, avoiding ROTC only at top colleges
where
"faculties are likely to be unenthusiastic" will continue the current
trend of officers coming from low cost schools in the south and
avoiding top
colleges and the coasts (detailed here
and here).
This will deepen the gap between future military leaders and future
civilian
leaders.
Myth: A university must offer course credit for
ROTC
Instance of
the myth: Harvard
Crimson article and Brown
Daily Herald editorial.
The editorial is particularly significant since it appears to quote
Brown's
provost:
Provost David Kertzer, in an
e-mail to the
editorial page board, further noted that "in the past, the faculty have
voiced concerns" about the military's requirements, like the one
requiring
the University to grant academic credit for ROTC classes.
Facts:
Many colleges such as
Princeton have ROTC but offer no course credit. This is
detailed in a
table of relevant colleges here,
and discussed in an article
that appeared on the Harvard-associated MilBlog "Secure Nation":
Although it is claimed that ”the
University would also have to grant credit for ROTC
coursework” there is no such requirement in the law.
Indeed,
Princeton has announced
that ”credit would not be provided at Princeton” for ROTC
courses, despite
language in the 1972 Army-Princeton agreement that “academic credit for
military professional subjects will be judged by the institution under
the same
procedure and criteria as for other institutional courses”.
Myth: The Solomon Amendment doesn't apply to
universities since they
didn't formally expel ROTC
Instances of
this myth: New
York Times
op-ed,
Boston
Globe editorial and Yale
Herald blog post
Facts: The
Solomon
Amendment applies
to a college that "either prohibits, or in effect prevents"
ROTC or military recruiting. The fact that universities effectively
barred
ROTC by the indirect means of withdrawing the conditions
specified in the ROTC
Vitalization Act of 1964 is not important from a legal perspective
since this
"in effect prevents" ROTC. The Solomon Amendment has not been
invoked for ROTC since it can be invoked only by the Secretary of
Defense, who
has not invoked the law for ROTC. In contrast, the Solomon
Amendment has
been invoked for military recruiting, and the Supreme
Court ruled
unanimously that doing so was constitutional for military
recruiting.
However, the ruling noted that "recruiters are not part of the law
school", drawing a contrast to the situation on ROTC that leaves it
unclear how the court would rule on an ROTC-related Solomon Amendment
issue.
This uncertainty, together with the "shotgun wedding" nature of using
the Solomon Amendment to force an ROTC program onto a campus, account
for some
of the reluctance of the Bush and Obama administrations to apply the
Solomon
Amendment to ROTC.
Myth: ROTC students are not allowed to
express political
opinions in class
Instances of
this myth: San
Jose Mercury News
article
Facts:
ROTC students and students
at service academies are not supposed to criticize the political or
military
leadership in public in uniform, but they may do so when out of uniform
or in
an academic setting such as a class. Thus, ROTC students can
express
their opinions in the same situations in which their fellow students
can do so.
Respectfully
submitted,
Michael
Segal MD’83 PhD’82
From: David Sahar
Sent: Sun 2/6/2011 2:25 AM
Subject:
Let ROTC become a part of our great university
David I. Sahar M.D.
Clinical Professor of Medicine
Columbia University
From: Katharine Seidl
Sent: Sat 2/5/2011 11:40 AM
Subject: My Concerns
Dear Task Force:
First, I would like to thank the
Task Force for the
opportunity to share my opinion on the ROTC issue, and for considering
the take
of the entire community of CU.
Unfortunately, I am not able to
attend any of the
scheduled talks, nor will I be able to vote. Therefore, I want to
express my
concern through e-mail.
I recently listened to a program
on NPR that debated
whether or not ROTC belongs on college campuses. While I understand why
some
people argue for it, I am, simply stated, opposed it. I do not think
Columbia
University should have such a program. A military presence has no place
in the
educational setting and I would be very uncomfortable if CU decides to
host a
ROTC program. In fact, Columbia was appealing to me as a student
because it did
not have an ROTC program and I would not have selected the university
if it
did.
Again, thank you for inquiring and
listening. I look
forward to reading the report when it comes out.
Sincerely,
Katharine Seidl
From: Ronald Breslow
Sent: Thu 2/4/2011 4:28 PM
Subject: ROTC
It
is now time for Columbia to permit ROTC here. The arguments
against it were at one point understandable, but now they do not make
sense. Do we really think that people who fight and die in
our
wars are misguided, not to be honored? Do we believe that the
U.S. does not need an army? If we have students who want to
belong to ROTC, and we do, we should permit them to do it
here. We should adopt the change, and quietly,
without
noisy demonstrations that will just damage the image of
Columbia.
We want to be, and be seen to be, a place of reason, with tolerance and
respect for the opinions of others.
Ronald Breslow
University Professor
From: William Bain
Sent: Thu 2/3/2011 10:20 PM
Subject: support for ROTC
Dear Task Force:
I am a veteran of the Iraq war and
currently a member of
the Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons Class
of 2012. I
am writing to express my strong support for full recognition of the U.S. military by Columbia and for
Columbia's participation in
ROTC.
I support ROTC on campus because I
believe that a major
role of universities, especially a world leader like Columbia, is to
shape and
develop students not only as scholars, but also as citizens. I can
think of few
programs to better prepare future citizen-leaders than the training of
military
officers. Furthermore, in the interest of academic freedom
(particularly in the
setting of the recent repeal of DADT), I think we should embrace a more
intimate understanding of the military, which touches every aspect of
human
knowledge from engineering to philosophy to medicine to religion to
anthropology to history.
I think that opposition to ROTC on
campus because it
supports a "war machine" or a "war agenda" is
intellectually dishonest. Our national defense policy is not formed by
the
junior military officers educated in programs such as ROTC that serve
around
the world in support of our nation's strategic goals, be they
humanitarian or
violent. Rather, that policy is formed by business, political, media,
and
academic elites, many of whom graduated from or are employed by
Columbia.
Given the levity with which our
nation wages war and
violence, I think it is in our best interest that our future leaders
have
personal experience waging our wars so they may more judiciously and
appropriately bring that force to bear.
Therefore, I support ROTC at
Columbia because I believe
it will improve Columbia and because I believe it will improve our
military and
our future leadership. Thanks very much for your consideration.
Best regards,
William Bain
From: Wm. Theodore de Bary
Sent: Thu 2/3/2011 2:48 PM
Subject: ROTC
To The Task Force on Military Engagement,
I believe it is time to restore ROTC at Columbia because we
live in a world where educated students have to bear their share of
responsibility for the defense of freedom. Columbia should use this as
an opportunity to contribute its own educational leadership to the
defense of democracy amidst the violent ideological struggles going on
in the world today
When NROTC was abolished in 1968-9 it was not because the
military had been exerting any improper influence over Columbia
education, but because we yielded to the anti-Vietnam War sentiment at
the time. Columbia let itself be used as a strike against the war, not
because of any evidence that Columbia education had been adversely
affected by the military establishment. After the Kirk/Truman
administration yielded to violent disruptions in cancelling the NROTC
graduation ceremony, the Senate let itself be pressured into abolishing
NROTC itself.
Now in better times we should return to a more normal stance.
Just as we remain proud of Columbia’s signature Core Curriculum, which
started out as a discussion of war and peace issues, we should
re-direct ourselves to open civil discourse today, with ROTC included
in the process.
Wm. Theodore de Bary
Wm. Theodore de Bary, AB ’41, MA ’48, PhD ’53
John Mitchell Mason Professor of the University and Provost Emeritus
Special Service Professor
From: Paul S. Frommer
Sent: Thu 2/3/2011 1:31 PM
Subject: Comments from Class of 1957 Member
Sirs:
I attended Columbia College on an NROTC Regular scholarship, graduating (B.A.) as a member of the class of 1957. While on campus I earned a varsity “C” Lightweight Crew and participated in Greek life. I lived on campus all four years.(Subsequently earned a M.A. (American History) from the University of California.) I am a Viet Nam veteran and former commanding officer of a destroyer homeported in the Mediterrnean Sea, plus two Pentagon tours – among other duty stations.
As a result of my NROTC commissioning in the Regular Navy I made the naval service my first career, retiring as a Commander in 1979.
As a liberal arts based college Columbia’s by denying the U. S. Armed Services and the student body an active ROTC on campus (not somewhere inconveniently afar) surely has helped to fulfill President Eisenhower’s remarks as to beware of a military-industrial complex. What better way than this, to segregate the American forces officer corps from the entire general public, to seed the beginnings of a divided nation, with perhaps in time a politically dangerous military. This is what Columbia has done, in effect “cutting off its nose to spite its face”.
Our military, ever since the necessary re-introduction of the draft due to the Cold and Korean Wars, and then the Viet Nam war has become a significant part of our society, whether we like this or not, something never occurring before in our history. Liberal arts graduates need to be part of this relatively new significant element of our society, even for short periods of time.
Thank you,
Paul S. Frommer
‘57C
From: Donald Quest
Sent: Thu 2/3/2011 10:09 AM
Subject:
I am a professor of Neurological Surgery at P & S.
I am also Vietnam veteran, having served as a naval aviator
aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kittyhawk from 1961-1966. I
was a member of the NROTC unit at my university prior to beginning
active military duty. I learned much from my military service
and am very proud that I had the opportunity to serve my country.
I came to Columbia at the height of the war protests and fully
understand the sentiments of those troubled times.
I love Columbia and have devoted my entire career to this University
and its medical school. I believe banning ROTC from the
campus is anachronistic and antithetical to the mission of a
great university. Freedom of expression, freedom to explore
differing points of view, freedom of assembly are all essential
elements of the atmosphere and personality of a world-class institution
of higher learning.
Mandating
participation in the ROTC is not under consideration after
all. Banning
the opportunity to explore military service, however, is
repressive and has no place at our institution.
Sincerely,
Donald O. Quest, M.D.
From: Matthew Davidson
Sent: Wed 2/2/2011 5:13 PM
Subject: NO to ROTC
In the final analysis, it doesn't
matter if the military
is more open to gay people. Underneath everything the military does is
conditioning human beings to kill each other. Who cares if a gay or
straight
finger pulls the trigger on unarmed civilians? Columbia should not
support ROTC
or the military at all!
Matthew
From: William Smethie
Sent: Wed 2/2/2011 2:03 PM
Subject:
I favor allowing ROTC on the
Columbia campus. Our
military should represent a cross of our
country which includes Columbia University.
From: Abraham Wagner
Sent: Wed 2/2/2011 1:39 PM
Subject: Memorandum for the Task Force on Military Engagement
The purpose of this memorandum is to express my strong support
for the proposal to “Return the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC)
to Columbia University’s Campus.” I appreciate the fact that the
University Senate is revisiting the question of ROTC’s place at
Columbia, and unfortunately will not be in New York at the time of the
scheduled hearings to participate personally.
Prior to joining the Columbia University faculty some six years ago as
Adjunct Professor of International and Public Affairs I served for over
three decades in various positions in the United States Government
related to national security. At SIPA I have been teaching two courses
related to national security, defense and intelligence. Among my
students have been active military, government employees, as well as
graduate students seeking jobs in the national security area. While not
part of my formal role, I have also served to advise undergraduate
students from both Columbia and Barnard working on papers and projects
in the national security area.
The question of returning ROTC to Columbia is not simple or easy, and
arguments exist on both sides of the matter. On balance, however, I
personally believe that the current policy is a legacy of the Vietnam
War era long past, and the benefits to the University Community
articulated by the student Advocates for Columbia ROTC and Students
United for America are well-taken.
In the mid-1990s I served as a Visiting Professor of International
Relations at the University of Southern California which had an active
ROTC program in place. My experience with students as USC, a number of
who were enrolled I the ROTC program is that the benefits described by
the Columbia student group are real – not illusory. I fully expect that
such benefits would be realized at Columbia as well. In this regard, I
find a few points to be most compelling:
First, as we are all aware, the cost of attending Columbia is
substantial and indeed daunting for many students and their families,
even with the myriad of financial aid programs available. Without
question the ROTC program enables a broader spectrum of students to
attend Columbia than would otherwise be possible, and provides Columbia
with a more diverse student body. It also provides the ROTC students
ready access to employment in an economy where jobs are not as readily
available as in times past.
Second, from the Government’s perspective, we need students with the
type of education that Columbia affords. I can offer two examples from
my own experience. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
(DARPA) which gave rise to the Internet and a host of other new
technologies is staffed in large part by uniformed military, many with
advanced professional degrees. The Intelligence Community, which now
includes some 16 separate agencies, is also staffed in large part by
uniformed military.
In its “best days” the CIA depended heavily on some of the best minds
drawn from Columbia, Yale and other leading educational institutions.
Many of the failures we have experienced in the last several years have
been due to a failure to bring in well-educated young people to perform
some of the most challenging analytical tasks imaginable. Indeed, much
of my own time these days is spend in writing recommendations for my
own students seeking work in this critical area. ROTC offers yet
another viable path to supporting this critical national interest.
Third, I believe that the changes in the ROTC program since the Vietnam
era noted by the students are correct, and my own experience bears this
out. The demands now placed on ROTC students are not overly burdensome,
particularly in light of the benefits and changes in the program. None
of my USC students then enrolled in ROTC saw any significant problems,
and I seriously doubt many at Columbia would see these as well.
Finally, I think the various arguments against permitting the ROTC
program at Columbia listed by the Advocates for Columbia ROTC are
either wrong or simply no longer credible. I see no errors of either
fact or law in the student rebuttal and concur in this discussion.
Should the Task Force desire that I provide additional comments or
inputs of any type on this important matter, I am at their disposal,
and can be contacted most easily by e-mail: <redacted>.
Sincerely,
Abraham R. Wagner
From: Matthew Shurtleff
Sent: Wed 2/2/2011 12:41 PM
Subject: Re: University Senate Spring Deliberations on ROTC
I fully support a yes vote for Columbia's formal participation in ROTC. A ROTC program enriches the Columbia community by including a broader cross section of students. Also it makes the University more accessible to students who might not otherwise be able to attend.
Thank you,
Matt Shurtleff
Master's Candidate
Sustainability Management
From: Britton Ward
Sent: Wed 2/2/2011 11:55 AM
Subject: I am in favor of the ROTC returning to campus
I am in favor of the ROTC returning to campus. I am both a GSAS student and an employee of Columbia University. My feeling is that our students should have the right to pursue all career avenues while attending CU. Included in this is the right to pursue a military career.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me through the information below.
Sincerely,
Britton Ward
From: Anonymous
Sent: Wed 2/2/2011 11:48 AM
Subject: Re: University Senate Spring Deliberations on ROTC
ROTC should be reinstated immediately. It's an affront and an embarrassment to do otherwise. With the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," and as mentioned in the State of the Union address, all Americans can serve in the military without discrimination. Any reason not to have ROTC on campus has now been eliminated, and not having it reinstated immediately leaves Columbia University in the divisive and political-minded past, in effect supporting its own form of discrimination.
Beyond that, I'm a firm believer
that serving in the
military is one of the highest forms of selfless service to our country
that
anyone, anywhere, can do. It should be supported, encouraged, and
celebrated.
There should be no debate here. Reinstating ROTC at Columbia is the right thing to do.
From: Len Druyan
Sent: Wed 2/2/2011 11:42 AM
Subject: ROTC on campus
I favor giving Columbia students the opportunity to enroll in ROTC at Columbia.
--
***************************************************************************
*
Dr. Leonard
M. Druyan
*
Columbia
University Senior Research Scientist
From: Louis Brus
Sent: Wed 2/2/2011 10:10 AM
Subject: ROTC at Columbia
I am strongly in favor of ROTC at Columbia.
Columbia should actively participate in supporting our democracy, imperfect as it is, by enabling and even encouraging participation by those students interested in ROTC. No institution is perfect. In WWII Columbia students joined the Army and Navy, despite their racist structure at that time, because the stakes in preserving democracy were so high. These stakes are just as high today. The University itself trained officers for the Navy. The presence of many former civilians in the military hastened the reforms that came later.
Elitism and arrogance shown by the Ivy League universities hurts our support in the Congress, and among our alumni, and in the general population.
Louis Brus
Samuel Latham Mitchill Professor of Chemistry
Columbia University
New York, NY, 10027
From: John Merriam
Sent: Wed 2/2/2011 9:01 AM
Subject: ROTC
Sir:
I believe that Columbia students should have access to ROTC. One can never support all of the policies and actions of the government and military but it is essential that the military recruit well educated individuals.
John Merriam, M.D
From: Gail Golden
Sent: Wed 2/2/2011 1:02 AM
Subject: Yes to ROTC at Columbia
With the reversal of DADT, there seems no legitimate reason to prevent ROTC from returning to Columbia. It would be disgrace to formulate another excuse to keep it off the campus, in my opinion.
Gail Golden
lSMA
Sent from my iPad
From: Edith Park
Sent: Wed 2/2/2011 1:00 AM
Subject: ROTC CDT from Art School
I am # 20 on the petition.
Columbia
University had granted me acceptance for one year as a pre-med CE
student, 2009- 2010. I am a Painting major student from Pratt
Institute, Brooklyn and also attending St. John's University as an ROTC
cadet. I will be commissioning as a Medical Service Corps.
officer
this spring and realized that discipline and the duty to help others
gave me the conviction to cross unmarked territories, especially being
the first ROTC cadet the art school has enrolled since our program
closed during WW2. I plan to become a physician in the Active Duty
Army...thanks to CU and their academic support, I am on that path.
7FEB11
is also the date I will be having my Senior Thesis Show at the
Brooklyn, Pratt campus. The artwork depicts war, territory and culture.
Here is an invitation...
Sincerely and Respectfully,
CDT Edith Park
Pratt Institute, Class of 2010
From: Nicholas Christie-Blick
Sent: Tue 2/1/2011 11:52 PM
Subject: ROTC opposition
Colleagues:
The recent Congressional vote to repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell removes the single most compelling reason for denying military recruiters access to Columbia.
Therefore I favor permitting
military recruitment at a
level comparable to that provided to other potential employers.
I do not favor re-establishment of ROTC on campus for two reasons. First, military culture (total deference to authority) is the antithesis of everything we stand for at Columbia. I do not see how the University can honestly endorse such a culture in its midst. Second, the military constitutes a total waste of a Columbia education. If more than a handful of students per year choose the military as a career path, then we're recruiting the wrong students.
Nicholas Christie-Blick
Professor
From: Seth A. Flesher, M.D.
Sent: Tue 2/1/2011 11:30 PM
Subject: ROTC
The
military will be better for having Columbia University
educated people within its ranks. Columbia University will
be better for
an ROTC presence and the increased diversity on campus.
Seth
A. Flesher, M.D
From: Travis Bunt
Sent: Tue 2/1/2011 10:49 PM
Subject: ROTC Deliberations Should Not Be A Referendum on the Military
To Tom Mathewson and the
ROTC-Taskforce,
I must admit to being taking aback when learning of the debate
regarding ROTC,
and more than a little puzzled after taking the time to peruse the
history of
the tenuous relationship as detailed on the task force
website.
I find the extended morality play at work here quite overwrought,
particularly
the summaries of opinions questioning whether or not the ideals of the
US Military
are compatible with the ideals of the University. Who is
asking these
sorts of questions of other University programs? Should we
not, given
current events, hold open debate on whether or not Columbia's Business
School
deserves a place on our hallowed campus? How ethical is it
train those
who would head to Wall Street in blind pursuit of personal
gain? Are such
endeavors compatible with the educated liberalism Columbia is reputed
to endow?
But of course, it is not Columbia's position to judge the merit of its
graduates' careers, but to give them the tools to to practice a craft
and to
make their own decisions. In this instance, however,
Columbia's
deliberate lack of a ROTC program explicitly communicates that an
Officer's
career is not a valid aspiration for a Columbia student. Such
a statement
should not continue to be made. If a student is free to
choose a career
path as an investment banker, he or she should also be free to choose
to serve
others--and get the best education he can to do so. If there
are truly
academic and logistic issues that preclude that, these issues are where
the
focus should be, not on opinion polls and the like.
By allowing this to become some sort of referendum on the military,
Columbia
and it's task force have erred greatly. No other program is
subject to
such subjective scrutiny, and none should be.
As a veteran, and a former Naval Officer, I cannot help but take this
charade
personally. Because in making such a show, Columbia has made
what should
be an objective academic consideration into a free-for-all of opinion,
which
ultimately renders judgment on me, those who have served, those who
still
serve, and those who desire to serve.
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Travis J. M. Bunt
MSAUD 2010
MSRED 2011
From: Ben Parker
Sent: Tue 2/1/2011 10:34 PM
Subject: thoughts on ROTC
To whom it may concern:
As a current graduate student and former undergraduate, I have also been a longtime opponent of ROTC on Columbia's campus. However, the basis for this opposition was the US military's "Don't Ask Don't Tell Policy," a policy since repealed by Congress.
Now that this exclusionary and
discriminating policy has
been removed, it is the only principled and righteous thing to do to
now
withdraw opposition to ROTC.
While many opponents of ROTC for those reasons will not be enthusiastic about now allowing the ROTC on campus, this has to be our good faith follow-up to our correct and praiseworthy opposition to the don't-ask-don't-tell policy. Now that our "demands" have been met, as it were, ROTC (however reluctantly I say this) should be allowed on campus.
thank you for your time.
Ben Parker
CC '05
PhD candidate, GSAS
From: Christopher Linscome
Sent: Tue 2/1/2011 10:09 PM
Subject: ROTC at Columbia
Regarding ROTC at Columbia:
I have never personally been involved with ROTC or the military. Columbia is touted as one of the best schools for military veterans. In fact, was not the General Studies program created and designed specifically for military veterans coming home from World War II? Columbia University offers a first-class education to military veterans. It makes perfect sense to inculcate an ROTC program into Columbia's undergraduate school.
On another note, if one of the reasons for resistance to an ROTC presence on campus has something to do with the general political leanings or milieu of the school then can Columbia fairly be called a "university?" Is it not a mark of any university to offer a place for dialogue, even including viewpoints that may or may not be particularly popular? That is an aside.
As a GS student at Columbia, I would simply like to offer my support of having an ROTC program offered ON CAMPUS.
Christopher Linscome
From: David Weltman
Sent: Tue 2/1/2011 9:57 PM
Subject: Opinion on ROTC on Campus
Dear Task Force,
As a student at Columbia, I think it is our prerogative, after the
decision
passed in our legislative branch to repeal the DADT policy of the US
military,
to support our troops and show our respect for this great country by
having an
ROTC presence on campus. It is our duty to support this country, and I
would be
proud to be in a university that would do such.
Thank you for hearing out my opinions,
-David
--
David Weltman
Columbia University Class of '12
List College of Jewish Studies (JTS) Class of '12
From: Anonymous
Sent: Tue 2/1/2011 9:21 PM
Subject: it comes down to patriotism
Dear members of the Columbia
school community,
Voluntary service in the military is an honor for every American that experiences it. Although "Don't ask, don't tell" has in the past provided a reasonable, fair rationale for excluding ROTC from the Columbia campus, that law is now overturned. To continue to exclude ROTC from campus would be perceived as elitist and un-American--which, in truth, it would be.
ROTC should be available to all
college students, because
as American citizens, it is their right to volunteer in the military
without
having to sacrifice their college educations.
Are Columbia students less willing than their compatriots
at state
colleges to serve their country, or less interested in honoring
classmates who
volunteer for military service? I
hope
not. In fact, I
expect not.
From: Ross Zeltser
Sent: Tue 2/1/2011 9:15 PM
Subject: RE: University Senate Spring Deliberations on ROTC
The ROTC should be allowed back on campus. Thank you!
Ross Zeltser, MD, FAAD, FACMS
Clinical Instructor, Columbia University Department of
Dermatology CC '97
From: Melissa Boone
Sent: Tue 2/1/2011 9:00 PM
Subject: Opinion on ROTC at Columbia
Hello,
I am a third-year graduate student
at Columbia, in the
Mailman School of Public Health. I
believe that Columbia should bring ROTC back to campus, now that DADT
has been
repealed. I fully
and wholeheartedly
agreed with Columbia's policy to keep any discriminatory employers -
including
the military - off campus, and admired the university's resolve and
commitment
to inclusiveness. Considering
that the
official policy has been repealed, though I think that ROTC can bring a
lot to
the campus. It has
the possibility of
opening Columbia to a lot of students who receive ROTC scholarships and
want to
attend college here, as well as bringing students who wish to
participate in
the program and become officers in the military to the university. Our current students who
want to participate
won't have to travel all the way to the Bronx on Fridays to participate
as a
cross-town school.
Sincerely,
Melissa Boone
Doctoral Student
Department of Sociomedical Sciences
Mailman School of Public Health
From: Angelos D. Keromytis
Sent: Tue 2/1/2011 8:36 PM
Subject: Re: ROTC deliberations
Dear colleagues,
I cannot attend the scheduled meetings, but let me thank you for looking into this issue. Personally, I am in favor of ROTC engagement on campus.
Best,
Angelos Keromytis
Associate Professor of Computer Science, SEAS
From: Daniel Fein
Sent: Tue 2/1/2011 8:14 PM
Subject: ROTC
I wholeheartedly endorse the reinstatement of ROTC on campus. It should never have been terminated.
Thanks,
Danny
Daniel M. Fein
Columbia Business School
MBA Class of 2012
From: Sean Manning Udell
Sent: Mon 1/24/2011 8:41 PM
Subject: Re: Concerns about the return of ROTC to Columbia
My name is Sean Udell, and I am the president of the senior class of Columbia College and the president of the Columbia Queer Alliance (CQA). I am emailing you tonight merely as a concerned student, and my opinion neither reflects the opinion of Columbia College class of 2011 or CQA.
I am interested in adding a voice to the many that I am sure you are hearing. Specifically, I have been concerned by the rhetoric that says that because DADT has been repealed, somehow the military is in conformance with the University's non-discrimination policy. Though the DADT repeal has made it possible for people of some sexual identities to join military ranks, the military still bars those who are transgender or have any other non-normative gender identities from enlisting in the military. Considering that the University, specifically President Lee C. Bollinger, publicly stated that its current policy on ROTC was a result of the military's non-compliance with the University's non-discrimination policy for gay and lesbian people, it would be disappointing to see the University back down from its moral position in favor of selective discrimination against trans people or people with gender identities outside of the normative, male-female binary.
In the debate over ROTC, both sides seem to have forgotten about transgender students, who will still face explicitly discriminatory policies in the military, and by extension, in ROTC. Transgender status or a Gender Identity Disorder (GID) diagnosis alone can disqualify a person from open military service. The Uniform Code of Military Justice does not allow transgender individuals to serve openly, even with the DADT repeal in place. The military’s Anti-Harassment Plan also fails to protect individuals against harassment targeted toward a person’s gender identity. Various military bureaucratic entities including DD-214 forms in the military, the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System, and the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, do not contain provisions to alter gender (from male to female or vice versa). Furthermore, numerous Veterans Affairs medical services including prostate exams, pap smears, and mammograms are routinely denied to transgender veterans.
Currently the ROTC program is not an affirming, or even open, option for transgender students. A re-introduction of ROTC, therefore, constitutes a violation of Columbia University's non-discrimination clause and the statutes of any other universities that protect against discrimination on the basis of gender identity.
Best,
Sean
--
Sean Manning Udell
Columbia College | Class of 2011
Columbia University in the City of New York
From: Eric Chen
Sent: Sun 1/23/2011 1:46 PM
Subject: An opinion on ROTC at Columbia from Eric Chen GS07
Original
publication at http://www.securenation.org/blueprint-for-columbia-rotc/
Blueprint for Columbia
ROTC
“I invite you to consider whether the right question may no
longer be “How
could we ever formally recognize ROTC on our campus,” but, instead,
“How can we
not welcome them back?””
–Columbia College Dean
Michele Moody-Adams,
October 2, 2010
Columbia
ROTC was once a
special institutional partnership
that educated generations of Columbia students in the
civil-military
leadership tradition of alumnus and founding father Alexander Hamilton.
The
partnership was severed when ROTC was effectively barred
from Columbia University in
1969. Since 2002, students, alumni, and faculty have organized to restore ROTC
on the Columbia
campus. The majority of responses to ROTC in the Columbia
community have
been positive, but Columbia’s acceptance of ROTC has
been delayed
by opposition to the “don’t ask don’t tell”
law (DADT).
Columbia ROTC after DADT
“[The repeal of DADT] effectively ends what has been a vexing
problem for
higher education, including at Columbia — given our desire to be open
to our
military.”
–Columbia University
President Lee Bollinger,
December 18, 2010
On December 18, 2010, Congress repealed DADT.
On the same day, Columbia
President Lee Bollinger declared that the end of DADT is “the
opportunity for a
new era in the relationship between universities and our military
services.” On
December 20th, the Student Affairs Committee of the Columbia
University Senate, the governing body that must
decide whether the
university will elect to restore ROTC, announced
the formation of the “Task Force on
Military Engagement.” The University Senate, which last
considered ROTC in 2005, will
take up the ROTC
issue in the Spring 2011 session.
The repeal of DADT makes all the difference
in Columbia welcoming
ROTC. Much like the November 2010 Yale student survey on ROTC, a
majority
of Columbians have expressed support for ROTC on campus but not if
having ROTC
meant importing DADT. The repeal of DADT means a majority of Columbians
now
favor having ROTC on campus, period.
For Columbia officials, the question after DADT is
whether an ROTC
program fulfills the civic responsibility of an
American flagship
institution and the University’s mission
to furnish “a
distinctive and distinguished learning environment for undergraduates
and
graduate students in many scholarly and professional fields.”
Military officials currently judge ROTC
programs using an accounting
standard, i.e., whether an acceptable number of second lieutenants are
produced
at an acceptable cost, with some consideration for factors such as the
host
school’s comity with the military, racial diversity, and regional
coverage. The
effect of current ROTC metrics has been to view the suppressed cadet
numbers,
long estrangement, and other suspected challenges at Columbia as
drawbacks,
whereas Columbia’s preeminent institutional strengths have not been
judged as
countervailing advantages.
Since the repeal of DADT, skeptics have challenged
the practicality of
an ROTC program at Columbia from the military’s
perspective. However, the
issue is not whether the military is able to add an ROTC program at
Columbia;
since the Columbia ROTC movement was organized in 2002, ROTC
programs have
been granted to other host schools. The issue is whether university and
military
officials will determine that a new Columbia ROTC partnership is
feasible and
worth the cost.
If the evaluation of Columbia as an ROTC host school
is limited to the
military’s current accounting standard, then Columbia will
continue to be
doubted as a candidate to host ROTC. Realizing ROTC at Columbia depends
on
university, government, and military leaders who can see beyond current
ROTC
metrics and envision the benefits
of an institutional
partnership that invests Columbia’s strengths in the military and
vice-versa.
An ROTC+ vision for Columbia
“Future Army forces require lifelong learners who are creative
and critical
thinkers with highly refined problem solving skills and the ability to
process
and transform data and information rapidly and accurately into usable
knowledge, across a wide range of subjects, to develop strategic
thinkers
capable of applying operational art to the strategic requirements of
national
policy.”
–The United States Army
Operating Concept 2016-2028
“A healthy force must maintain high standards. Recent analyses
emphasize the
need for officers who are even more agile, flexible, educated, skilled,
and
professional.”
–The
Final Report of the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review Independent Panel
Leaders in all fields often stress that a vision is important,
but 90% of
the effort is in implementation. Simply adding ROTC to Columbia would
fill an
important gap at Columbia, but our goal goes beyond simply adding an
ROTC
program. We envision Columbia ROTC as the leading, state-of-the-art
ROTC
program in the nation. Much depends on the degree to which the
university, the
military, and the alumni are willing to implement an ROTC+ vision at
Columbia.
The military’s evolving 21st Century
mission aligns the
military with Columbia’s global outlook and raises the potential of a
Columbia
ROTC+ with course offerings that are a plus both to the university and
the
military. In an increasingly complex global security environment,
America needs
military leaders able to adapt on a full spectrum, which means officers
who are
“lifelong learners” and “creative and critical thinkers” with the best
possible
academic foundation. Columbia University’s
gifted students and combination
of top-tier academic and New York City resources offer ROTC an ideal
setting
for innovative programs to attract qualified young men and
women, recruit
personnel with specialized skills, and prepare officers for a full
range of
complex missions with enhanced pre-accession training. Columbia already
hosts
innovative crosscutting programs
that rely upon the
special reach and multi-dimensional resources of a flagship university
in a
world city – Columbia ROTC+ would be a rare
opportunity to rise to
the needs of the nation with an evolutionary officer program that draws
upon
everything Columbia University in New York City has to offer.
Columbia ROTC+ would take advantage
of Columbia’s large diverse
pool of top-quality undergraduate and graduate students, a world-class
research
and learning environment that already trains students in a
wide range
of scholarly and professional
fields, and the
unique resources of a world capital. Columbia has top language,
anthropology,
and civil engineering programs that should immediately interest the
Army and
Marines, as well as excellent engineering and science programs that
should
attract the Air Force and Navy.
Navy ROTC is a
promising match for Columbia.
Columbia owns strong historical ties to Naval officer
training. An
NROTC program at Columbia would provide the Navy
with much-needed access to New York
City. NROTC favors
strong engineering programs and Columbia’s School
of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) is
one of the best in the
world. For New York City, a home
for NROTC at Columbia
would advance Mayor Bloomberg’s initiative
to make the city an
“applied science and engineering hub.”
ROTC at Columbia would help solve the military’s absence of ROTC within
Manhattan — which has
poor access to ROTC despite having the highest concentration of college
students in the country — and affirm to Columbia students their
nation-building
responsibilities in both military and civilian life. The return of ROTC
to
Columbia University, the flagship academic institution in New York
City, would
have a positive wider cultural and public relations impact on the
military and
the university.
Any new ROTC program at Columbia would join a distinguished
military
heritage and find a fraternal community ready to support the program.
Columbia’s military tradition dates back to the students who joined the
fight
for a new American nation. Indeed, the standard bearer for Columbia
officership
is founding father Alexander Hamilton and his lifetime of visionary
leadership
in and out of uniform. The Hamilton Society,
the student group for
ROTC students and Marine officer candidates founded in 2002,
has
consciously sought to revive General Hamilton’s Columbia military
lineage.
Columbia enjoys an active
and growing population of over 300 student-veterans,
the largest by far in the Ivy League, as well as numerous active-duty
officers
in the graduate programs. Alumni group Columbia Alliance for ROTC
has the express
purpose of promoting and supporting ROTC at Columbia. Alumni
have served in all the military branches, though
none more than the
Navy, where Columbia Naval officers once rivaled Annapolis’s output.
Beyond Columbia’s military community, ROTC would find a
supportive
environment on campus. Since 2005, University leaders have consistently
cited
DADT as the only significant obstacle to the university welcoming ROTC,
and
DADT is no longer relevant. The ROTC movement has grown within Columbia
from
students, alumni, and professors supporting the military on campus. The
steady
trend on campus has been to support the military, as expressed by
University
leaders such as Trustees chairman and Army veteran Bill Campbell and
Columbia
College Student Council president and ROTC advocate Learned Foote, multiple
Columbia
Spectator
staff editorials
calling for ROTC at Columbia,
Columbia’s outreach to recent veterans with robust participation in the
Yellow
Ribbon program, the unveiling of the Columbia
War Memorial, and highly visible commissioning ceremonies
on campus. In 2006,
Columbia even amended the university
non-discrimination policy to add
“military status” as a protected category.
The devil is in the details
As stated earlier, since DADT ended
as the
justification for separating Columbia and ROTC, skeptics
have challenged the practicality of an ROTC program at
Columbia from the
military’s perspective. Issues cited include student interest,
providing
satisfactory physical facilities, granting ROTC instructors faculty
status and
titles, and granting academic credit for ROTC courses. As with
any ambitious
institutional change, the devil is in the details, but all the issues
cited are
resolvable:
a. Student interest in ROTC
Skeptics point to the current low number of
ROTC students at Columbia
in order to claim that student interest is too low to sustain an ROTC
program
on campus. However, their contention is impossible to prove or disprove
without
an ROTC program on campus. The damaged status of ROTC at Columbia after
1969,
alienation from poor exposure, distance and poor access in urban terms,
and
lack of institutional assistance likely deter most Columbia students
from
seriously considering ROTC. It’s simply unfair to judge Columbia
students for
not joining an ROTC program that isn’t there. We first have to plant
the seed
in order to grow the tree – building up ROTC
student numbers at
Columbia first requires ROTC on campus. Then, as Columbia ROTC is
nurtured into
a fully integrated and supported part of the university,
Columbia ROTC student numbers will grow over time.
That’s just common
sense. Roughly one-fourth of the undergraduate population is renewed
every
year. After ROTC is established on campus and properly advertised,
eventually
every student applying to Columbia will know about the ROTC program on
campus.
Of course, financial incentives help attract students from
elite – and
expensive – universities like Columbia to any career field. In order
for the military to compete for the best students,
the Quadrennial
Defense Review Independent Panel recommends:
To attract more youth to
military careers and
recruit from the nation‘s top colleges, the services should offer full
scholarships on a competitive basis, usable anywhere a student chooses
to
attend, in exchange for enlisted service in the reserves (and summer
officer
training) during schooling, and 5 years of service after graduation, to
include
officer training school.
It is worth noting that, of the three ROTC programs,
Navy ROTC is
viewed by many as the ROTC program most likely to succeed at Columbia.
The undergraduate NROTC survey
of 2008 originated
from SEAS students requesting the
pathway to Naval
officership, and in spite of the
unpopularity of DADT, SEAS
students voted in favor
of Navy ROTC at Columbia.
Unfortunately, despite the demonstrated student interest, Columbia
students
have zero access to NROTC. The absence of NROTC at Columbia is
made doubly
tragic by the storied history of Naval officer training at Columbia.
Many
alumni supporters are Navy veterans who would be particularly
supportive of a
Navy ROTC on campus.
b. Physical facilities for ROTC
ROTC campus space needs are relatively modest and could
reasonably be met at
Columbia under current conditions. ROTC-friendly neighboring spaces
such as
Grant’s Tomb and Central Park would augment the space available for
ROTC.
Furthermore, the projected timeline of the Manhattanville university
expansion coincides with the
likely timeline for starting an ROTC program at Columbia, which should
increase
the space available for ROTC on the main campus.
c. ROTC instructors’ faculty status and titles
A key constraint is the law governing ROTC, the ROTC
Vitalization Act of 1964. Its provisions should
not block efforts at
Columbia to restore ROTC; they include the following:
No unit may be established
or maintained at an
institution unless the senior commissioned officer of the armed force
concerned
who is assigned to the program at that institution is given the
academic rank
of professor… and the institution adopts, as a part of its curriculum,
a
four-year course of military instruction … which the Secretary of the
military
department concerned prescribes and conducts.
The faculty appointment issue has been solved well at
universities
comparable to Columbia. At MIT, for example, ROTC leaders are
designated as
“visiting professors.” At Princeton, ROTC professors are assigned “a
rank
equivalent to the senior academic rank of professor.” Both these
formulations
satisfy the law without undermining the status of regular tenured
professors
and accord with Columbia’s instructional
appointment policy.
d. Academic credit for ROTC courses
The courses of instruction issue has also been solved in ways
that fit with
the values of comparable universities. Although it has been claimed
that “the University would also have
to grant credit for ROTC coursework” there is no such requirement in
the law.
Indeed, Princeton has announced
that “credit would not be provided
at Princeton” for ROTC courses, despite language in the 1972
Army-Princeton
agreement that “academic credit for military professional subjects will
be
judged by the institution under the same procedure and criteria as for
other
institutional courses.” Similar conditions for ROTC courses may
be observed at MIT.
The Princeton arrangement demonstrates a basic model on which
the university
and the military can agree. More importantly, efforts at Harvard,
Princeton,
and Columbia have pointed the way towards an ROTC+ model that builds on
the
basic model by making available high quality courses valued by both the
university and the military. These ROTC+ efforts have been of two types:
Regular faculty arranging ROTC credit:
Professors at comparable
universities such as Harvard have taught courses that were coordinated
with the
military and received ROTC as well as university credit. This model can
be
expanded, especially as the subject areas
relevant to military leadership
continue to expand. Although universities may have significant gaps in
areas of
interest to the military, departments are glad for opportunities to
hire top
scholars to cover important areas.
ROTC faculty arranging university credit:
Columbia has discussed
having regular university
departments co-sponsor ROTC courses deemed worthy of academic credit.
With a
similar vision, the Army has sent ROTC leaders with PhDs to Princeton,
positioning them to have joint appointments in regular departments.
Under these models, some courses could be offered with joint
Columbia and
ROTC credit. Creating an ROTC+ model in which ROTC students get courses
such as
military history, international relations, game theory, and
anthropology
provides to the military a “laboratory of the universities,” and also
enhances
the course offerings of the university. ROTC+ offers capabilities that
are a
plus both to the university and the military.
The next steps to Columbia ROTC
“Now, as anyone who has been involved in transformation knows,
change can be
hard. It can be challenging. And it can be frustrating. Inevitably, all
institutions resist change to some degree–even when all recognize that
change
is needed.”
–Army
General David Petraeus, May 6, 2010
President Bollinger’s encouraging statement immediately
following the repeal
of DADT was the necessary first step towards restoring the Columbia
ROTC
partnership.
The next step is for the University Senate to deliberate, then
approve ROTC.
Input from the Columbia community will be vital to the
University Senate’s
decision. If the University Senate approves ROTC, university
officials
would then reach out to the military to
start negotiating an
ROTC program at Columbia. In order for the military and Columbia to
negotiate
constructively, it is important that the two sides deal
with each
other in good faith, are motivated by compelling interests
and tangible benefits,
and judge Columbia ROTC by
a standard that favors Columbia’s institutional strengths. The intervention
of political leaders to break
through bureaucratic deadlocks may be necessary. Alumni will also be
crucial.
Columbia alumni have a strong voice in both the university and in
government.
Alumni are crucial in encouraging students to apply to Columbia and
encouraging
them to try ROTC. Alumni are also crucial in transcending bean-counter
arguments and providing resources to achieve important goals.
A call to action
“The moral compass of the Army is the P.L. [platoon leader,
usually a
lieutenant] and the C.O. [commanding officer]. I told every one of my
P.L.’s
that they have to set that moral standard, that once you slip to the
left, you
can’t pull your guys back in.”
–Army Captain Dan Kearney,
February 24, 2008
Few causes are as manifestly impactful as advocating for
Columbia ROTC. As
it does today, much of the weight of future missions will be borne by
young
officers. They must be able to lead their soldiers in any combination
of
homeland defense, disaster relief, crisis stabilization, ministerial
training,
conflict prevention, security and stability, counterinsurgency,
counterterrorism, essential government services, emergency
infrastructure, and
humanitarian aid. In the short term, young lieutenants and captains
prepared by
Columbia ROTC will be better equipped to rapidly innovate and adapt to
unpredictable
challenges. Over their careers, a strong academic foundation will help
Columbia
officers to master their duties with a commensurately greater
acquisition of
faculties. Pentagon budget cuts
that may lead to leaner
capabilities on the ground and the forecast
of politically
sensitive missions that rely on smaller numbers of
forces further
point to a heightened need for the exceptional individual officers that
Columbia can provide the nation.
The challenges facing America are great, but so are
the opportunities.
At this crossroads in our history, Columbia must choose: are we an
“Ivory
Tower” disconnected from the needs of People and nation, and only good
for
insular thinking and selfish pursuits? Or, are we truly America’s
producer of
vanguard leaders who pursue the greater good and the improvement of all
parts
of our society, including the military?
The challenge of our time demands the best leaders from our
generation. As
Dr. Martin Luther King said in another time of pressing need in
American
history:
Let us stand with a
greater determination. And
let us move on in these powerful days, these days of challenge, to make
America
what it ought to be. We have an opportunity to make America a better
nation.
As Columbians and Americans, it is again time for us to stand
with a greater
determination, for the sake of People and nation. The decision we make
for ROTC
at Columbia is about more than just ROTC. We are shaping our
generation’s
vision of Columbia University and of ourselves
as fellow citizens.
Recommended reading:
Blueprint for Harvard ROTC
The Changing Landscape of
American Higher Education —
Panel on the Military and Academe