Columbia University Senate
Proposed: Adopted:
RESOLUTION ON MILITARY ENGAGEMENT AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY BE IT ENACTED BY THE COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY SENATE WHEREAS, in recent years Columbia University, under the leadership of University President Lee
Bollinger and Dean of the School of General Studies Peter Awn, has led the Ivy League in its participation in the “Yellow Ribbon” program, aimed at giving veterans of recent conflicts educational opportunities they would not have otherwise received; and WHEREAS, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen, visited Columbia
in 2010 at the invitation of the University President, and commended Columbia’s leadership in military engagement among America’s top universities as part of a “sea of goodwill”; and WHEREAS, the 2005 Task Force on the Reserve Officers Training Corps discovered broad support
for increasing Columbia’s military engagement; and WHEREAS, Columbia students have successfully participated in off-campus Reserve Officers
Training Corps programs for decades, and recently taken part in various ceremonial functions on campus, including commissioning ceremonies, and a weekly color guard, to the approval of the University community; and WHEREAS, the United States Congress repealed 10 U.S.C. § 654 (commonly termed the “Don’t
Ask, Don’t Tell” law) on December 18, 2010, which was signed into law by President Barack Obama, CC ’83 on December 22, 2010; and WHEREAS, President Barack Obama, CC ’83 stated in his State of the Union address of January
25, 2011, “I call on all of our college campuses to open their doors to our military recruiters and the ROTC. It is time to leave behind the divisive battles of the past. It is time to move forward as one nation.” WHEREAS, the 1976 Tien Special Committee specifically empowers the University Senate to
discuss and decide on any future military engagement for the University; and WHEREAS, the 2011 Task Force on Military Engagement has conducted a broad and
representative process, soliciting opinions from the Columbia community, showing widespread support for expanding Columbia’s ties with the Armed Forces of the United States, specifically on the question of the Reserve Officers Training Corps. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED That it is in the interest of Columbia University to continue to constructively engage the Armed Forces of the United States and educate the future military leaders, subject to administrative, logistical, and legal concerns; and
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Columbia University Senate
Proposed: Adopted:
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED That Columbia University welcomes the opportunity to explore further mutually beneficial relationships with the Armed Forces of the United States, including participation in the programs of the Reserve Officers Training Corps; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED That Columbia University reaffirms University Statutes III § 35 (Powers of the Faculties Excepting Arts and Sciences and Health Sciences), XXIX § 293 (Powers of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences), and XXXIII § 333 (Powers of the Faculty of Health Sciences), that questions of academic credit, appointments, and governance shall remain the sole and exclusive domain of the Provost, of the faculties of the affected schools, and of their several deans, as shall not contravene the Charter of Columbia College (1810), the University Statutes, or any resolution of the Trustees or of the University Senate; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED That any further relationships with the Armed Forces of the United States, beginning with relationships that may arise as a result of this resolution, shall be subject to periodic review by the appropriate committees of the University Senate, such committees to be designated by the Executive Committee. PROPONENTS Executive Committee [TBD - Student Affairs Committee] [TBD - Faculty Affairs Committee] [TBD - Education Committee] [TBD - External Relations and Research Policy Committee]
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