Columbia University is one of many Ivy League institutions that does not support an ROTC program and has not done so in over 40 years. The decision was made in 1969 due to the Vietnam war and student protests. While that event fades into history, Columbia's most recent argument used against supporting ROTC was the DADT policy violates their own anti-discrimination policy. DADT's recent repeal has brought the subject of bringing back ROTC once again. The decision might have gone completely unnoticed had it not been for the recent heckling of war veteran on campus. Former SSG Anthony Maschek, a disabled, wheelchair bound veteran (having been shot 11 times), spoke in an open forum in support of bringing ROTC back to Columbia. As Maschek spoke, "It doesn’t matter how you feel about the war. It doesn't matter how you feel about fighting. There are bad men out there plotting to kill you," to which he was booed, mocked and even called a racist by members of the student body.

The NY Daily News now reports the decision on whether to bring back ROTC is being left to what they're calling a popularity contest. This would be the same university that taught its students by example how not to behave professionally and diplomatically by poorly introducing Iranian President Ahmadinejad back in 2007. Naturally, the university is not above accepting money from students funded by the GI Bill or other military programs sending servicemen for higher education.