Tale of Two Columbias
Political correctness battles patriotism.
WSJ reports: “On April 28, First Lieutenant William A. Edens was killed in Tal Afar, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device destroyed the armored vehicle in which he was traveling. Four other U.S. soldiers died with him. Lieutenant Edens, who was 29, is survived by his wife, Christina, and by his parents. At his memorial service last week, he was remembered as ‘a great man, an amazing soldier and a wonderful friend’ by First Lieutenant Joshua Grenard, a classmate of Eden’s in the ROTC program of the University of Missouri, Columbia.”
Now consider a different Columbia: Columbia University, in New York City. On Friday, the university senate voted by a 53-10 margin, with five abstentions, against a resolution to re-establish an ROTC program on campus. Prominent in this roll call of dishonor was President Lee Bollinger, who voted against, and Provost Alan Brinkley, who gave an impassioned speech comparing the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy to a campus organization that allowed “African-Americans to join . . . only if they pass for white.” Oddly, Mr. Brinkley abstained from voting, suggesting he lacked even the courage of these convictions.
Shameful. Disgraceful.
RELATED: Retaking the Universities - A battle plan.
“The chief issue is this: Should our institutions of higher education be devoted primarily to the education of citizens–or should they be laboratories for social and political experimentation?“
An excellent essay by Roger Kimball exploring liberal academia run amok.