BY LAUREN SCHULZ
In 1968, the Vietnam War was raging and so was Columbia University. Anti-war students ransacked the ROTC barracks and a year later, the program was banned from campus. Fights broke out on campus over the war. Students with low grades risked being drafted. Soldiers and Marines returning from the war kept quiet about their service. If they were vocal, it was to protest the war.
Forty-three years later, America is fighting in two wars. Fights don’t break out on campus and debate over the wars is passionate but respectful. The draft is gone, and the professionalized military sends scores of active duty officers to study at Columbia every year. The undergraduate and graduate schools each have active veteran associations. Last month, the school senate voted 51 to 17 in favor of inviting ROTC back onto campus.
Recently, the students and faculty went a step further, trying to understand the psychological effects of war on veterans. They did this through a performance of an ancient Greek reading called the Theater of War.
Events like this on campus not only help veteran’s transition back to civilian life, but also open the dialogue between military and civilians, bridging the gap that opened after the Vietnam War.
Frank da Cruz, Army veteran and Columbia University alumnus, joined the General Studies School at Columbia in 1966, after leaving the Army. “A lot of scuffles broke out [with military recruiters], a lot of tables turned over, Marine sergeants tripped,” he said.
“But the characterization of [1960] radicals spitting on veterans is a big myth,” da Cruz said. “Nevertheless I don’t recall veterans hanging out together or forming any kind of clique or political group.”
Walter Mack, Marine veteran and Columbia Law alumnus, arrived in 1968 after fighting in the Tet Offensive. When his Marines found out he was going to Columbia they told him they were more worried about his safety in New York than in Vietnam.
The veterans never discussed their time in the service unless they assembled on their own, off-campus, Mack said. “It was best to recognize that and not make it a major depressant and start conforming to the needs of the law school at the time,” Mack said.
“In my recollection [the university] did nothing – what ever wisdom the group of veterans obtained came from our own meetings and discussion on what was the best way for us to proceed,” Mack said.
Decades later, Rudy Rickner, a dual graduate degree student at Columbia and former Marine fighter pilot, had a different experience. After serving multiple combat tours in Iraq, he chose to join the reserves and go back to school. He said he had a hard time transitioning to student life, but the environment at Columbia today has helped him through it.
“Conversations between the military and civilians are important and rich and there are opportunities for growth from both sides,” Rickner said. “I think that I can share a lot of the perspective that I got overseas but I also want to re-acclimate to the civilian world.” Rickner is a former president of the Columbia SIPA Veterans Association.
Columbia is a place where that conversation happens. That message reached Phyllis Kaufman and Brian Doerries, directors of Theater of War. Normally, they present readings to military audiences, but they thought Columbia University was ripe for a more open dialogue between civilians and military.
The play describes what wounded warriors struggle with under the weight of psychological and physical injuries in order to maintain their dignity, identity, and honor. Sophocles’ Ajax and Philoctetes was written 2500 years ago and is still relevant.
“When Theater of War [producers] approached us with their proposal, we saw immediately that this was an important and urgent example of our work in action,” Rita Charon, Director, Columbia Narrative Medicine Program, said in an interview recorded on campus. “There was no department or center or concern at the university that was not in some way tied in to this project. As we work with veterans, we know that the first duty is to fully hear and bear witness to their trauma, their injury and their suffering.”
Jason Bennett, a Columbia MBA student, served in the Army for seven and a half years. He did combat tours in Bosnia and Iraq. Bennett was asked to sit on a panel for the discussion that followed the performance. He was open about his experiences. He said, “the reading of the play was much more impactful, there was no theatrical distraction and you could focus on the words and the underlying message.” He said the tone of the evening made for a very open and focused conversation.
“One of the great things about academia is it’s a place where you can voice your opinion without fear, open each others minds and move people forward, “ Bennett said. He is the co-chair of the Business School Veterans Association.
“There is no more appropriate place in some ways to be performing Theater of War, with these diverse groups of veterans, students, faculty [than] here at Columbia,” said Doerries, the artistic director. It reflects the conversation that is happening all over campus with military veterans.
Dr. Bill Nash, 30 year Navy veteran who has served with Marines and sailors in Iraq, has worked with Theater of War for over four years. He said what struck him the most about the performance was the struggle he witnessed by the audience. “I got the sense that a significant number of people were struggling with their feelings about war and war fighters,” said Nash. He said this is a positive thing. “People were willing to embrace the big picture, however painful it is.”
Other feelings about war and war fighters came out during the town hall discussions regarding ROTC at Columbia.
Students and faculty who opposed the return of ROTC argued that there is no place for military training on an academic campus. At a series of public hearings, supporters and opponents of ROTC argued heatedly, occasionally turning into shouting matches. At one hearing, a student lambasted the military and called a combat veteran “racist” because of his role in the Iraq war. For many veterans, the rancor came as a shock; they had enjoyed their time and Columbia and were surprised to learn how negatively some fellow students perceived them.
It will take time for ROTC to reincorporate. Its return will not be immediate. The presence of ROTC on campus and programs like Theater of War help to bridge the gap between civilians and the military.
“A lightening rod incident in which someone speaks out and disrespects a combat veteran is an easy story to write but is not reflective of the Columbia community,” said Mack. “I applaud Columbia for assisting veterans coming home.”