COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, New York: “The American people recognize that we are not on the right track. That our government is not working the way it should, that our economy is not working the way it should and they expect leadership from Washington but they understand that they have to be part of the solution as well,” were the words of Barack Obama at a summit Thursday night at Columbia University.
Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, and his Republican rival, John McCain, stood together in a rare show of unity at the Service Nation summit and vowed to inspire and encourage volunteerism throughout America.
Obama and McCain spent the morning of Sept. 11 at ground zero where they paid tribute to the thousands of people who lost their lives in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in Manhattan.
Winding up their trip to New York, the two candidates came to Columbia University, Obama’s alma mater, and separately answered questions about what they would do to boost volunteerism and service among Americans. The two candidates were only on stage together briefly where they shook hands and embraced. Obama vowed to introduce tuition tax credits amounting to $4,000 per student, per year in exchange for community service.
McCain emphasized the importance of the private sector in promoting volunteerism. “Volunteer organizations that are completely separate from the government are among the most successful,” he said. “So let’s not get entrapped by the idea that the government has to run these voluntary organizations.”
Both candidates also said they would consider creating a Cabinet-level position to oversee national service.
McCain also lashed out at Ivy League universities for banning Reserve Officer’s Training Corps from campus. McCain praised Columbia, a university his daughter Meghan graduated from in 2007, but said: “Do you know that this school won’t allow ROTC on campus?” The audience replied by booing him.
Obama, whose session was interrupted several times by cheers and chants of “Obama” from an overly enthusiastic crowd, agreed with McCain.
“I recognize that there are students here who have differences in terms of military policy,’’ Obama said. “But the notion that young people here at Columbia or anywhere, in any university, aren’t offered the choice, the option of participating in military service, I think is a mistake.’’
