Columbia and ROTC are incompatible

To the Editor:

I was saddened by Spectator’s ROTC discussion the last few days, because it distanced itself from the fact that ROTC is in part a leadership training program for the killing of other people and the destruction of their societies.
Although a military education includes non-violent and even intellectual components, I do not think that a liberal arts education and preparation for the killing side of war are compatible.
Instead, I wish that a university also dedicated to the advancement of knowledge would give special priority to advancing knowledge about the prevention of war. Indeed, right now this university and others should help America better understand how to prevent unnecessary wars.

Herbert J. Gans
Robert S. Lynd Professor Emeritus of Sociology
Dec. 1, 2010