New USenate task force may reconsider military on campus

Following Congress’ vote to repeal ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’, a policy that has forbidden openly gay servicemen and women from serving in the military, the student affairs committee of the University Senate announced the formation of a task force on Monday to explore the military’s relationship with Columbia.

Next semester, the Task Force on Military Engagement plans to hold hearings, conduct a survey regarding Reserve Officers Training Corps, and serve as an educational resource about the military’s history with Columbia, Ron Mazor, CC ’09, Law ’12, and chair of the task force, said.

The official dates of the events are to be determined. But, Mazor said the process is meant to gage where student opinion falls on the issue of the military and ROTC, in light of the recent repeal.

“I think the debates were close enough in the past that it is hard to predict where we are going to be in the future,” Mazor said.

In past years, the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy has been at the center of the campus debate. The University Senate announced earlier this semester that it would not officially address the status of Columbia ROTC until the policy has been officially eliminated because it goes against the University’s principles of non-discrimination.

Still, with the repeal in sight, the student affairs committee has been soliciting student input on ROTC and starting up this task force over the last few months, with the intention of being prepared when the repeal occurred.

According to Mazor, the task force hopes to take a report on their findings to the University Senate in March, with the hope that the findings will shape the Senate’s discussion in regards to the issue.

The USenate last put together a task force in 2005, which resulted in a 53-10 senate vote, with five abstentions, against a ROTC resolution that called for a ROTC program to be established on campus “as soon as is practicable.”

Tao Tan, CC ’07, MBA ’11, and SAC chair, said this new task force is going to be different from the 2005 task force by focusing exclusively on listening to the Columbia community, instead of deliberating on the issues involved.

It will include 10 senators, including both faculty and students, Tan said, adding that it will remain a student-led initiative with the majority of members being students.

Although SAC will lead the discussion on Columbia’s relationship to the military, Mazor said he envisions the student councils participating in the process by publicizing the events and encouraging student participation.

This marks a change from 2008, when the ROTC question was raised through an undergraduate referendum. At that time, 51 percent of students voted against inviting the group back to campus, while 49 percent were in favor.

But, Jose Robledo, GS and an ROTC cadet who oversees training for all the cadets who attend school in Manhattan, said in November that he believes the discussion regarding whether to invite ROTC back to campus is irrelevant.

“ROTC has never actually left … There are cadets at Columbia who are in ROTC,” he said, referring to the students participating in the programs at Fordham University and Manhattan College. Instead, Robledo said he believes the discussion should focus on supporting the cadets already here.