Returning from Iraq, military students will still have a spot at Columbia, says official
College plans to waive fees and return financial aid
By Angela Caputo
Contributing Editor

As combat rages thousands of miles away in Iraq, college officials have taken measures to ensure Columbia students enlisted in the military can return to classes without penalty.

“We’re trying to create as friendly of an environment as we can,” said John Olino, Columbia’s director of financial aid.

“It’s the least we can do for putting our soldiers in harm’s way,” he said.

The policy, finalized on March 10, says students who are activated or join mid-semester will be withdrawn from class without penalty. Financial aid will be returned and charges for the term would be waived, according to the Student Financial Services Office.

Olino said that he hopes the new policy will make it easier for students to return to college after they return from duty.

“It’s unfortunate that this war is interrupting students’ lives,” he said. “My hope is that they will return to college, either here or somewhere else.”

During the Gulf War in 1991, five students were called up but only two returned to Columbia, according to E.J. Chip Talbot, admissions counselor for Columbia’s veteran office.

In his State of the College address on March 20, President Carter said, “about 15 members of our community…have been called up and therefore are serving the country on our behalf.”

The President’s Office was unable to account for 15 people, nor were any other administrative offices on campus.

The Chronicle can confirm two Columbia students currently on inactive military duty.

Columbia student Tina Blumenberg, 22, an interdisciplinary arts major, was pulled out of her last semester of classes, her friends said, when the U.S. Army reactivated her in early February.

Blumenberg, also know by her hip-hop performance name “ToMBoy,” worked as a data clerk in the Student Financial Services Office for three years before she shipped out.

Steve Washington, 22, an interactive multimedia student, said he spoke to Blumenberg on March 26 at the Wisconsin military base she is stationed. “Her morale is really high,” Washington said.

Washington said that Blumenberg is awaiting orders on where she will be stationed next.

Blumenberg told Washington that she doesn’t know if she will be sent to Iraq.

Illinois’ military affairs office said it was not able to release information on whether or not Blumenberg’s unit would be deployed to Iraq.

“For the sake and safety of our soldiers we’re not going to give out that information,” said Sgt. Michelle Morgan of the Illinois Department of Military Affairs.

Blumenberg was a GI Bill recipient, which was paying for her education at Columbia according to the Admissions Office.

Pat Fahrenbach, 20, a recent transfer student to Columbia and a theater major, will report to duty in San Diego, Calif. on April 21.

He said he thinks most college-age people apply for the military to receive financial aid.

When Fahrenbach joined the Marine Corps in March, he said the recruiter was surprised that he wasn’t joining in pursuit of tuition money.

“I enlisted to defend our beliefs, our country and people who can’t and won’t fight for themselves,” Fahrenbach said.