Every year, on November 11th, Americans show their appreciation of military veterans by celebrating Veterans Day. This year at Columbia, members of the military and veteran communities joined in honoring Veterans Day. CTV News sat down with Brendan Rooney, Vice President of the U.S. Military Veterans of Columbia University, to discuss Veterans Day at Columbia.

"I know this is the first time that we’ve had a flag-raising ceremony since I’ve been here, which is 2007. This is the second year that we’ve had a float in the Veterans Day Parade, which about 25 veterans participated in this year."

One tradition that is being reinstated by the military community at Columbia is the raising of the flag at dawn by military personnel every Monday. For 42 years, military activities have been prohibited on Columbia’s campus. However, with approval from the University Senate, Columbians involved in ROTC activities will continue to raise the flag.

"It shows that there are service members here in the Columbia community, and that military service members are students just like you and me. If you hadn’t seen them before, now you see them."

In recent years, the university has stated that the reason they do not allow military activity on campus is the discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which prohibits openly gay people from serving in the Armed Forces. However, as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” becomes a major social issue in the United States, policy towards the military on campus may change.

"I think as this 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell' policy changes, Columbia is definitely going to be interacting with its veterans more and I’m sure they’ll be more vet-friendly and military-friendly, for that matter."

We will see where the future of the military and Columbia leads in the coming years as we continue to celebrate and appreciate the men and women who have served our nation in the military. 

As Mr. Rooney noted when quoting Thucydides, "The nation that makes too great a distinction between its scholars and its military service members will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting done by fools."