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College On The Record: To Be or Not to Be? Debating the Merits of ROTC
At last week's presidential forum, both candidates unsurprisingly spoke in favor of allowing ROTC back on Columbia's campus. What was surprising was a piece in today's Spectatorannouncing that the student councils and several other groups are working to have a referendum to gauge student opinion on this issue. Debates and town halls will certainly go down soon, but here is some food for thought until then:
ROTC was banned from campus back in the 1960s because of opposition to the Vietnam War. I agree with many students -- conservatives and liberals alike -- that this was a flawed decision: university administrators should not take explicit political stances that limit students' freedom. My rose-tinted view of academia is that students should be exposed to a diversity of viewpoints and then allow to make their own decisions. Accordingly, Columbia shouldn't maintain the ban on ROTC because it disagrees with the Iraq War; under that logic, Columbia should also ban any student group or company with policies the administration doesn't like. We are all adults, and we are supposedly all intelligent -- we can hear what the military has to offer and make up our own minds; implying that we need to be shielded is kind of insulting.
However, the original justification for banning ROTC is no longer the key issue for many students. At least for me, the decision to maintain the ban on ROTC is incredibly straightforward: the military is not an equal opportunity employer and therefore should not be allowed to recruit on campus or use campus resources, including student life fees and meeting space. Would we allow a group on campus if they only accepted minority students who were passing as white? What if a company only accepted Jewish applicants willing to pretend to be Christian? These questions sound absurd because they are. For LGBT students, the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy means that military service requires hiding who they are and sacrificing a crucial part of their identity. In other words, LGBT students don't have free choice; much of that decision is already made for them. DADT is far from an empty threat: hundreds or thousands have already been dishonorably discharged, including decorated veterans and highly skilled translators. Until this discriminatory policy is repealed or overturned, ROTC should not be allowed back on campus.
Of course I recognize that I am just one opinionated student, and of course I think everyone should get a say through a referendum. But I also hope that our student body thinks hard and considers all viewpoints -- mine included -- before deciding. As always, feel free to comment and prove me wrong.
