The majority of Columbia students agree that Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is a discriminatory policy, but the debate rages on. Here is my take on some of the topics of heated contention:

But the Solomon Amendment is bad news
This unfortunate government policy threatens to remove government funding from any university that refuses to allow ROTC on campus. This may sound like a sufficiently compelling reason to support the return of ROTC, but funding is not a good reason to compromise moral principles. What if a donor offered $1 billion in exchange for Columbia returning to a men’s only university? What about $500 million for disbanding all Asian-American cultural groups? As in these analogous situations, we should never allow funders to bully us into instituting discriminatory policies.

The moral argument may not hold much weight for those of you worried about Columbia’s future in a time of economic trouble. The pragmatic response to the Solomon Amendment argument is that the government would never actually rescind our research grants over ROTC. The government rarely even attempts to enforce the Solomon Amendment, and taking funds from an internationally renowned research institution would be terribly politically unpopular. I just can’t see it happening. Either way, the Solomon Amendment should not be the basis of our decision.

But gay students can participate in ROTC
Sure, but they can’t join the military or get ROTC scholarships. To give more analogies, what if Muslim students could participate in athletic practices but were barred from competing and getting athletic scholarships? What if female students could participate in Teach for America’s training program but only men could actually teach and get paid? We would never stand for it; we wouldn’t even have a survey. The military is not an equal opportunity employer, and until they are, they do not deserve access to Columbia resources. Remember, ROTC would not just passively exist on campus – it would be a department with access to our already overstretched space, faculty/administrative staff, and funds.

But some students really want it
Then those students can have it; all they have to do is commute to Fordham. I’ve been to Fordham, and the commute is 30-45 minutes. Many students – myself included – commute that far for jobs, internships, or volunteer positions. I recognize that it’s not the most convenient option, but if students are willing to go through basic training and possibly to war, they should be able to suck it up and manage the Bronx. Making this even more compelling, Columbia and Fordham sometimes have joint debate practices in spite of the inconvenient commute. If debaters are more dedicated than ROTC recruits, I think the military is in trouble.

Additionally, if ROTC was so important, students should have factored it into their college decision. I applied to other schools that offer merit based scholarships, have no core requirements, have better parties, and have better weather. I knowingly gave up those things up because I wanted to go to Columbia. All Columbia students made the same choice; if they wanted ROTC so badly, they should have chosen a different institution. The same goes for underprivileged students. I am sympathetic to the high cost of college tuition and am saddled with debt just like everyone else, but reinstating ROTC would not uniquely enable low-income students to attend a prestigious university. Those students can already attend Columbia and commute to ROTC, or they can pick a university of comparable quality that offers ROTC. If the military is funding their college education, I think they can handle one of those options.

But the military deserves the country’s best and brightest
The military will never get our finest students until Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is repealed. Hundreds of decorated officers and highly skilled translators have been discharged solely because they are gay. A couple of years ago, we even had a severe shortage of Arabic translators because so many homosexual employees had been fired. In my opinion, the military doesn’t deserve intelligent, tolerant students until they behave in an intelligent and tolerant way.

Related, some argue that Congress passed the policy; the military shouldn’t be punished. However, Congress passed it based on the advice and instruction of military leaders. Many representatives in Congress have maintained that they will only repeal the policy when they get the okay from military heads. Predictably, the okay has never been issued, so it is perfectly reasonable to hold both the military and Congress accountable.

Remember, guys, this is Columbia, aka the University of Havana North. This is a school where we don’t observe Columbus Day of out respect for the struggles of Native Americans, even though our school is named after Columbus. The fact that many students back ROTC in spite of the military’s discriminatory hiring practices is absolutely baffling, and I strongly urge a vote of no on the survey. The survey should have been emailed to you earlier today, and it will be available until December 1. Don’t forget to vote!

Feel free to leave comments, especially if you disagree. I will make sure to respond and hopefully convince you to at least consider the other side.