Comments on Prof. Ruth Wisse's article "Gliberalism"

28 January 2007 Comments on Prof. Ruth Wisse's article "Gliberalism" by Prof. Allan Silver.  Note:  Silver, a sociology professor at Columbia and a a leading proponent on the faculty for return of ROTC to Columbia, suggests that both the universities and the country's leadership could do better to create an atmosphere conducive towards return of ROTC to elite universities.  His comments were prompted by Prof. Wisse's 27 January article in the Wall Street Journal.

Military Recruiting at Barnard's Activities Fair 2007

24 January 2007 Military Recruiting at Barnard's Activities Fair 2007

No Shame in Service

22 January 2007 Columbia Spectator op-ed "No Shame in Service" by Sean Wilkes CC'06.  Note:  The recently graduated head of Advocates for Columbia ROTC quotes Lt. Gen. Sir William F. Butler, who warned that "The nation that will insist upon drawing a broad line of demarcation between the fighting man and the thinking man is liable to find its fighting done by fools and its thinking by cowards."

Military Academy

18 January 2007 The New Republic column "Military Academy" by Anthony Grafton.  Note:  A Princeton professor notes that Princeton has more connections to the military than many other elite colleges, and recommends that "We who teach young men and women need to know more about what we ask some of them to do on our behalf and what it takes to do their jobs".

Wall Street Journal Op-Ed "Gliberalism"

27 January 2007 Wall Street Journal Op-Ed "Gliberalism" by Ruth Wisse.  Note:  Professor Wisse, a member of Advocates for Harvard ROTC, cites the ban on ROTC at elite universities as a prime example of an attitude "that leaves to others the responsibility for governance, and arrogates to itself the right to criticize".  See 28 January comment by Columbia Prof. Allan Silver.

Special Web-Only: Interview with Lt. Josh Arthur, CC ‘04

15 January 2007 The Eye (Columbia Spectator) article "Special Web-Only: Interview with Lt. Josh Arthur, CC ‘04" Matt Mireles.  Note:  Arthur, recently graduated from Columbia and ROTC, describes how he decided to serve in the military.

Columbia's Student Soldiers

8 January 2007 The Morningside Post (official blog for Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs) blog video item "Columbia's Student Soldiers". Note: Columbia Provost Alan Brinkley said "We're not a particularly attractive campus for ROTC because we don't have space, and the level of interest among our students would probably be relatively low and the Pentagon has not asked us to host an ROTC unit, so its not as if we've refused"

Columbia College Today letters from Josh Arthur CC'04

January/February 2007 Columbia College Today letters from Josh Arthur CC'04: 7 November, 13 November, 25 November, 19 December.  Note:  Arthur, recently graduated from ROTC and Columbia, describes his deployment and experiences in Iraq.

Knights of Columbia

1 January 2007 The Weekly Standard letter "Knights of Columbia" by Austin Byrd.  Note:  A first year student and Marine Corps officer candidate responds to the 18 December Weekly Standard item on the military and Columbia by noting that "the general feeling toward the military community is one of apathy, which in some ways is more difficult to confront than the passion of campus radicals".  Byrd explains that the pro-military students at Columbia "have adopted the strategy of promoting interaction between the military community and the general student body" to overcome this apathy.

Missing the big picture

1 January 2007 Marine Corps Times column "Missing the big picture" by Matt Sanchez.  Note:  Military veteran and Columbia student Matt Sanchez describes how at a recruiting event a group of students started chanting "The military exploits minorities!" to which he responded "I'm a minority; I joined the military, and I don't think I'm being exploited." and was told "That's because you're stupid — too stupid to realize you're being used as cannon fodder." Sanchez goes on describe that "For the academics, joining the Corps over attending an Ivy League school was an obvious sign of desperation."