Advocates For Columbia ROTC: Dartmouth

Showing posts with label Dartmouth. Show all posts

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Obama and McCain v. Ivy League

13 September 2008 Wall Street Journal editorial "Obama and McCain v. Ivy League". Note: The Journal described the boos in the audience at the 11 September presidential candidate forum when Senator McCain called for lifting the ban on ROTC at Columbia and the "silence when crowd favorite Mr. Obama (Columbia '83) called the ban "a mistake"". The editorial asked "if a bipartisan rebuke on ROTC is enough to shame Columbia and the other Ivies into changing their dishonorable act". See letters on 27 September.

ROTC and the Ivies: The presidential candidates agree that the de facto ban by elite universities should end

13 September 2008 Washington Post editorial "ROTC and the Ivies: The presidential candidates agree that the de facto ban by elite universities should end." Note: The Post observes that "the restoration of ROTC at the Ivies might help reconnect two important American subcultures -- elite academia and the military officer corps -- that have grown apart"

Friday, September 7, 2007

Wall Street Journal letter by Shane Cotner

7 September 2007 Wall Street Journal letter by Shane Cotner. Note: Responding to an article about the role of alumni in university governance, Cotner wrote "Dartmouth alumni are fortunate to have a man like T.J. Rodgers to represent their views, and a mechanism that allows those alumni to elect leaders like him to its board of trustees. As an alum of Columbia, my views have no comparable representation of which I am aware. When I hear about Columbia pursuing policies such as the banning of ROTC, and its lack of punishment for students who abuse conservative speakers, I realize I have no recourse whatsoever."

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.

Advocates For Columbia ROTC