Following USenate vote, Columbia officially recognizes Navy ROTC program

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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