Advocates For Columbia ROTC: February 2004

Tuesday, February 17, 2004

Letter to Provost Alan Brinkley

17 February 2004 Letter to Columbia Provost Alan Brinkley "Restoration of ROTC" from Admiral B. James Lowe CC'51. Note: Admiral Lowe mentions a commitment from Provost Brinkley "to form a committee from the faculty senate to review the advantages and disadvantages that would be derived from restoration of the ROTC to Columbia".

Saturday, February 14, 2004

Spectator Letter to the Editor

14 February 2004 Columbia Spectator letter "Articles Fail to Accurately Cover Campus ROTC Debate" by Shane Hachey, GS '04.

Spectator Letter to the Editor

14 February 2004 Columbia Spectator letter "CU Should Support Student Participation in the Military" by Jeff Sult, TC '03.

Friday, February 6, 2004

Columbia: Letter to the Editor

6 February 2004 Columbia Spectator letter "ROTC Trains Its Members to Be Leaders of Society, Not Just Killers" by James Bondarchuk, CC '05.

Thursday, February 5, 2004

Columbia: Spectator Letter to the Editor

5 February 2004 Columbia Spectator letter "Bringing ROTC to Columbia Will Not Reform the Armed Services" by Michael Castleman, SEAS '03.

Tuesday, February 3, 2004

Columbia: Spectator "ROTC Return Proposals Provoke Activist Criticism"

3 February 2004 Columbia Spectator article "ROTC Return Proposals Provoke Activist Criticism". Note: President Bollinger "made clear that any reinstatement of ROTC will have to begin at the student level, not the administrative level."

Columbia: Spectator Editorial "Bring Back ROTC"

3 February 2004 Columbia Spectator editorial "Bring Back ROTC". Note: Columbia's student newspaper calls for the return of ROTC based on the importance of integrating the military with society and ensuring a diversity of views on campus.

Monday, February 2, 2004

Columbia: Website Addition

2 February 2004 Columbia University "Grants and Scholarships from Sources Other than Columbia". Note: Columbia adds information about financial support from ROTC to its financial aid Web site.

Advocates for ROTC

is an umbrella group for organizations that promote an atmosphere supportive of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps on college campuses.

ROTC was active at all major universities in the United States until the Vietnam War, when it was de-certified by some colleges amid anti-war sentiment. Students at these colleges can take part in ROTC programs at other colleges and receive ROTC scholarships. Although much of the anti-military sentiment of the 1960s has waned, opposition to ROTC continues, centering around the "don't ask, don't tell" law about homosexuality in the armed forces passed by Congress in 1993 and signed into law by President Clinton.

ROTC is a core part of the nation's military training, producing more officers than the Service academies. At colleges without ROTC, students are growing up separated from some of the most important leaders of the future. Gen. David Petraeus, the military commander in Iraq, stresses that ROTC "is very important for our Army and our country" and that many ROTC graduates are "true national assets". President George W. Bush said "It should not be hard for our great schools of learning to find room to honor the service of men and women who are standing up to defend the freedoms that make the work of our universities possible". Both the country and the universities will benefit from having more such leaders.