Last month, Barack Obama spoke out at Columbia University on behalf of ServiceNation, an organization that aims to increase public service participation amongst college students. In his speech, the presidential hopeful declared, “The notion that young people—here at Columbia or anywhere in any university—aren’t offered the choice, the option of participating in military service, I think is a mistake.”

Immediately following this public reprimand, students and administrators at Columbia began debating the issue of whether or not the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, an organization that has been banned from the campus since the Vietnam War, should be allowed to return.

As of today, the ROTC still is banned at Columbia, but the debate has inspired Harvard to consider the issue as well.

The Crimson reports:

Citing support from both major presidential candidates, a conservative alumni organization called for the return of the Reserve Officer Training Corps to Harvard and four other universities in letters to the schools’ governing boards last week.

 

The letter, sent by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, quoted Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama endorsing ROTC training on college campuses.

Ah, how nice of the organization to conveniently leave out the fact that Columbia has been wrestling with this same issue for weeks. Obviously, they don’t want to share the spotlight or – gasp – be accused of imitating their Ivy League brother.

Too bad their not-so-subtle ploy has failed, as we are left here with a lingering sense that Harvard has taken the age-old expression “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” a bit too seriously.