Columbia University has long been associated with its Leftist activism, and its 1969 ban of ROTC has become a symbol of Columbia's positioning on the political spectrum.  However, the University Senate resolution on April 1st to remove the ROTC ban was a significant shift for Columbia.  The Senate's vote of 51 to 17 with 1 abstention sent a clear message that the University is not simply a cornerstone of liberalism.

The decision has sent ripples across the various news outlets, and while other universities have also been re-examining their ROTC policies given the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell, the contrast of Columbia's traditional stance with this decision is particularly provoking.  The New York Times reported yesterday that, "For reasons both of history and institutional character, however, none [of the similar initiatives at other universities] has the importance of Columbia, which was home to a particularly vigorous chapter of Students for a Democratic Society--some of whose most militant members helped form the left-wing radical group the Weathermen."