Published: March 30, 2011

Ryan Cho, a sophomore at Columbia University and a Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) Cadet for the United States Army, is a member of the Fordham Ram Battalion, an army branch of ROTC that is dedicated to college students in the New York City area. Like Columbia, many neighboring colleges do not offer ROTC facilities, but allow their students to be members of ROTC through Fordham’s program.

“Fordham has hosted ROTC for many years and is fully equipped to train military officers as it has for many years,” Cho said.

After a 42-year absence on Columbia’s campus, there has been debate on whether or not ROTC facilities should be reinstated there. A decision has still not been made to reinstate ROTC facilities. According to the Columbia Spectator, the decision will likely be voted on next month.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates recently called for a reduction of the Army that will likely mean downsizing for ROTC, and possibly no ROTC program at Columbia.

If Columbia gained their own ROTC Battalion in the future, their students who currently participate at FCLC would no longer be part of the Ram Battalion, but rather part of Columbia’s ROTC program.

“It’s not a decision of my own because if Columbia were to have its own separate program, we would become a host institution, so I would have to take it at Columbia if it was offered there,” Cho said.

In addition, Cho said that on behalf of the other Columbia students whom are part of the Ram Battalion, “Fordham is very generous to allow us to take classes and train there… Although it may not be the easiest of circumstances, it’s a privilege to even participate in the program; better at Fordham than nowhere.”

Cho also commented on the Iraq war veteran who was jeered at during a recent ROTC event about Columbia’s possible ROTC reinstating. “The incident is definitely not representative of the entire Columbia community, even though Columbia got a bad rep for that,” Cho said. “We have one of the largest populations of students who come to Columbia under the Yellow Ribbon program, and there are plenty of people on campus who support that…so I think it was obviously wrong for students to [jeer], but they’re not representative of the entire Columbia community.”