Advocates For Columbia ROTC: October 2002

Wednesday, October 23, 2002

Columbia: WSJ "That Others May Live"

23 October 2002 Wall Street Journal "'That Others May Live': A visit to the Air Force training base--a place that causes great pain to some academics" by Dorothy Rabinowitz.

Tuesday, October 22, 2002

Columbia: "Why is ROTC right for Columbia?"

22 October 2002 "Why is ROTC right for Columbia?" by Eric Chen.

Wednesday, October 16, 2002

Columbia: NYT "Military Recruiters are Allowed"

16 October 2002 New York Times article "Military Recruiters Are Allowed".

Thursday, October 10, 2002

Columbia: Statement from Bollinger

10 October 2002 statement from Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger announcing that military recruiters will be allowed at Columbia Law School.

Tuesday, October 1, 2002

Columbia: Spectator Letter to the Editor

1 October 2002 Columbia Spectator letter "University Should Regard ROTC as Essential to Campus" by Megan Romigh, BC '03.

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