Vets, Cadets Weigh in on NROTC Debate

For about 20 Columbia students, ROTC is a fixture of daily life rather than fodder for debate.

While campus continues to buzz over whether Columbia should reconsider its 40-year-old ban of Reserve Officer Training Corps, one group has largely remained silent: Columbia students who participate in ROTC programs. The participants, who take part in the program on nearby college campuses, say that they feel torn by their dual—and somewhat conflicted—identities, as a Columbia students and as members of the armed forces.

“I always like to maintain separate lives,” said John McClelland, GS and an Army ROTC cadet and veteran. “I find increasingly that they are bleeding together.”

Columbia has not allowed ROTC groups to operate on campus since 1969, a policy which began as a show of opposition to the Vietnam War and has been reaffirmed in recent years due to concerns that the federal government’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell law violates Columbia’s non-discrimination policies. But a movement has pushed in recent weeks for a reconsideration of that policy in order to allow the Naval ROTC to return to campus. Next week, students in all four undergraduate schools will vote in a survey to gauge student opinion on the issue.

The current debate puts ROTC participants in a bind. Kelley Victor-Gasper, CC ’09 and an officer candidate in the Marine Corps, explained that his life as a Columbia student and his participation in the military are inextricably linked. But now he has removed himself from campus life, calling much of the anti-ROTC hype an “elitist atmosphere of ignorance.”

Though it may seem odd that a student intending to participate in ROTC would choose Columbia, the students say that they appreciate their liberal arts experience. McClelland, for example, turned down a full scholarship at Tulane—a university that offers NROTC on campus—for the Core Curriculum.

But they also say that the cultures on campus and in ROTC are very distinct. In the military, wearing the same uniform “equalizes standing,” McClelland said, adding, “you are judged only on how well you perform.” On Columbia’s campus, the uniform serves not as a point of unity, but rather a distinguishing trait that sets students apart and can make them targets for unwelcoming peers.”

Victor-Gasper said that he is bothered by the reaction of anti-ROTC students, who believe he does not understand the serious implications of the military’s actions. “I’m not some idiot who wants to go shoot Iraqis for fun,” he said.

But despite their dislike of the ROTC stigma, not all members have taken a strong stance on the debate. Some participants do not feel any urgency for the program to return to campus. “ROTC is not inconvenient to us,” McClelland said. Students do not have to go far from campus to attend physical training, which takes place three mornings a week in Central Park. Fordham University in the Bronx offers military science classes.

At the same time, ROTC students and military veterans have expressed frustration at the campus’ intolerance of the military, questioning Columbia’s reputation for being open-minded.

“If we’re such a liberal, democratic school, where’s the freedom of choice?” asked Erika Gallegos, GS and treasurer of U.S. Military Veterans of Columbia University.

But bringing ROTC back to campus is not the main focus of participating students. McClelland and Gallegos both stressed the need for a better veteran support system on campus, not only for emotional counseling but also to inform student veterans about benefits they are entitled to receive. Victor-Gasper also spoke of hopes for a reconciliation of beliefs with student groups not open to ROTC’s return. “We have to chip away at the idea that you can only be pro-military,” he said.

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