• Of the 226 students attending King’s College, just prior to the Revolutionary war, only 25 took up arms.  Of those 25, only four fought on the side of independence. The rest were pledged to the British Crown...

• The years between the War for Independence and the Civil War saw little participation between Columbians and the military.  Most able-bodied Columbian men were sons of merchants and politicians who probably did not see the military as an appropriate career path... 

Contributed by Matt Sanchez

• Columbia University’s 10th President, Nicholas Murray Butler, facing a growing war in Europe held the credo of non-intervention. In the spring of 1917, when Germany resumed its submarine warfare he quickly had a change of heart, declaring instant disassociation of any faculty member, student or trustee voicing an anti-war sentiment...

Contributed by Tyler Harris