The College Fix

The Columbia University Senate has drafted a potential resolution which would allow for the return of ROTC to the school after more than 40 years.

The draft resolution, if passed, would end the effective moratorium on a Columbia ROTC unit. It will be voted on either at the Senate’s next plenary meeting April 2, or the following on April 29. The Senate is comprised of students, faculty, administrators and alumni.

The resolution begins in the preambulatory clauses by noting Columbia’s history and present engagement with the military, but the teeth of the resolution come in the operative clauses. One reads:

Be it resolved further
That Columbia University welcomes the opportunity to explore further mutually beneficial relationships with the Armed Forces of the United States, including participation in the programs of the Reserve Officers Training Corps

In 2005, the last time the USenate voted on the issue, it voted against a resolution calling for the reinstatement of ROTC. Earlier this month, surveys conducted by Columbia showed 60 percent of undergraduates surveyed support the return of ROTC to school.

Read the full text of the draft below:

Resolution on Military Engagement at Columbia University
Be it enacted by the Columbia University Senate

WHEREAS, in recent years Columbia University, under the leadership of University President Lee Bollinger and Dean of the School of General Studies Peter Awn, has led the Ivy League in its participation in the “Yellow Ribbon” program, aimed at giving veterans of recent conflicts educational opportunities they would not have otherwise received; and

WHEREAS, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen, visited Columbia in 2010 at the invitation of the University President, and commended Columbia’s leadership in military engagement among America’s top universities as part of a “sea of goodwill”; and

WHEREAS, the 2005 Task Force on the Reserve Officers Training Corps discovered broad support for increasing Columbia’s military engagement; and

WHEREAS, Columbia students have successfully participated in off-campus Reserve Officers Training Corps programs for decades, and recently taken part in various ceremonial functions on campus, including commissioning ceremonies, and a weekly color guard, to the approval of the University community; and

WHEREAS, the United States Congress repealed 10 U.S.C. § 654 (commonly termed the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law) on December 18, 2010, which was signed into law by President Barack Obama, CC ’83 on December 22, 2010; and

WHEREAS, President Barack Obama, CC ’83 stated in his State of the Union address of January 25, 2011, “I call on all of our college campuses to open their doors to our military recruiters and the ROTC. It is time to leave behind the divisive battles of the past. It is time to move forward as one nation.”

WHEREAS, the 1976 Tien Special Committee specifically empowers the University Senate to discuss and decide on any future military engagement for the University; and

WHEREAS, the 2011 Task Force on Military Engagement has conducted a broad and representative process, soliciting opinions from the Columbia community, showing widespread support for expanding Columbia’s ties with the Armed Forces of the United States, specifically on the question of the Reserve Officers Training Corps.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED

That it is in the interest of Columbia University to continue to constructively engage the Armed Forces of the United States and educate the future military leaders, subject to administrative, logistical, and legal concerns; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED
That Columbia University welcomes the opportunity to explore further mutually beneficial relationships with the Armed Forces of the United States, including participation in the programs of the Reserve Officers Training Corps; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED
That Columbia University reaffirms University Statutes III § 35 (Powers of the Faculties Excepting Arts and Sciences and Health Sciences), XXIX § 293 (Powers of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences), and XXXIII § 333 (Powers of the Faculty of Health Sciences), that questions of academic credit, appointments, and governance shall remain the sole and exclusive domain of the Provost, of the faculties of the affected schools, and of their several deans, as shall not contravene the Charter of Columbia College (1810), the University Statutes, or any resolution of the Trustees or of the University Senate; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED
That any further relationships with the Armed Forces of the United States, beginning with relationships that may arise as a result of this resolution, shall be subject to periodic review by the appropriate committees of the University Senate, such committees to be designated by the Executive Committee.

Conor Skelding is a day editor for the Bwog at Columbia University. He is a member of the Student Free Press Association.

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