student reaction to the vietnam war was a nationwide phenomenon and columbia provided no exception to the pattern a student peace group was organized at columbia in  and over  students actively participated members wore black armbands on april  of that year and a community rally was held the next day with faculty members present on march    columbia students were suspended for distributing leaflets in school the american civil liberties union agreed to defend the students but the issue later became moot when over a period of time the students were reinstated