Following USenate vote, Columbia officially recognizes Navy ROTC program
by Sammy Roth, columbiaspectator.com
April 22nd 2011
Columbia has reached an agreement with the U.S. Navy to officially recognize a
Naval ROTC program on campus, University President Lee Bollinger said in a
statement.
The Reserve Officers' Training Corps has not been recognized by Columbia since
1969, when protests over the Vietnam War led to the elimination of Columbia's
longstanding NROTC program. Bollinger told Spectator that the agreement is a
“historic turning point” for the University.
“I really wanted to do what the community wanted to do,” Bollinger said. “So in
that, I am pleased that the outcome is definite and points in the direction of
reengagement.”
Columbia students currently enrolled in NROTC will continue to participate in
military training programs and classes through a consortium at the State
University of New York Maritime College in Queens, but the new agreement means
that Columbia can give them academic credit for this work.
Navy spokesperson Tamara Lawrence said that it is not unusual for a school to
participate in NROTC through a nearby school with an already-established
program. But the agreement will give NROTC a “very visible” presence at
Columbia, she added.
“The ROTC program will certainly benefit from being at Columbia,” Lawrence
said. “That is absolutely a relationship we’ll be able to open up and offer up
some choices for students.”
Bollinger said that the University still has to work out the practical details
of the NROTC program with the Navy.
“Even though a lot of this is symbolism, there are some practical things that
are involved and figuring those out consistently with the community and
Columbia’s academic standards is important,” he said.
A Columbia press release noted that Provost Claude Steele will lead a committee
which will “oversee implementation of the ROTC program consistent with
Columbia’s academic standards.”
The committee will likely review what sort of academic credit to give to
outside NROTC classes and also what on-campus space cadets should be able to
use. Lawrence added that active-duty Navy and Marine Corps officers will be
able to meet with NROTC cadets on Columbia space in Morningside Heights to
receive “mentorship and guidance.”
Columbia already gives ROTC cadets physical education credit for outside ROTC
programming. Military veteran and School of General Studies student Jose
Robledo, who oversees training for all ROTC cadets in Manhattan, said that it
is possible Columbia will now institute its own ROTC-specific physical
education courses, as some other schools participating in ROTC consortia have
done.
Lawrence said that the Navy hopes the agreement will increase the number of
Columbia students participating in NROTC.
Robledo said that it might do so, but not in the short term. It will take time,
he said, for students who are interest in joining the military to starts
applying to Columbia.
“It’s not just about changing the culture at the University,” Robledo said.
“It’s also the rest of the country and the rest of the world knowing that we
have had an identity realignment.”
Before its ouster from campus in 1969, Columbia’s NROTC program had trained
more than 20,000 officers. Earlier this month, the University Senate authorized
Bollinger to negotiate an ROTC return in a 51-17 vote.
“The elimination of ROTC [in 1969] was a symbolic gesture of frustration and
anger towards policies and practices that people strongly disagreed with,"
Bollinger said. "And I think the sort of question now is, how do you engage in
a more positive way given this opportunity.”
After the senate vote authorizing him to negotiate with the military, Bollinger
discussed the issue with the Council of Deans, who unanimously supported a
formal recognition of NROTC.
Lawrence said that Columbia had been in discussions with the Navy about ROTC
for “over a year.” Bollinger explained that he was initially approached about
an NROTC return by Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, but emphasized that an
agreement was always contingent on the senate review process.
“I want to be very clear about this, nothing was done, it was always understood
that whether this would in fact happen…was entirely dependent upon the outcome
of the process,” Bollinger said. “So even though there were some discussions
over time, they were in the form of ‘If this were the way it were to go on the
campus, then what might happen in terms of the reengagement of Navy ROTC.’”
Robledo called the agreement an “identity realignment” for the University.
“Before in the 60s and the 70s, that ‘fight the man, stick it to the man’
[attitude], we’re no longer gonna be part of that,” Robledo said.
Over the last few years, opposition to ROTC at Columbia had centered on the
military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which Congress repealed in December.
Many students argued that this policy, which had prohibited gay soldiers from
serving openly, was discriminatory.
Congress passed the DADT repeal in December, although it will not take effect
until the military has certified that it will not harm their readiness, which
is expected to happen later this year. According to a Columbia press release,
NROTC will not be recognized on campus until the DADT repeal is in effect.
The press release also noted that a committee led by Provost Claude Steele will
make sure that the NROTC program’s implementation is “consistent with
Columbia’s…policies of nondiscrimination.” Bollinger said that this means
largely that the committee will ensure that no discrimination against gay
students exists after DADT is fully repealed.
But some students have opposed an ROTC program at Columbia because of the
military’s policy of barring transgendered individuals from enlisting, which
they say violates the University’s nondiscrimination policy.
Bollinger said that this policy is similar to DADT, calling it “something that
affects people in ways that injure them.” But he said it was not enough reason
not to invite NROTC back to Columbia.
“It’s just something that at this stage, all things considered—because the
university community was fully aware of this, the Council of Deans was fully
aware of this—that itself will not preclude having a relationship [with the
military],” Bollinger said. “Nevertheless, like with other issues, we want to
keep working on it.”
Original Page:
http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2011/04/22/us-navy-and-columbia-reach-agreement-rotc-return
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