Senior profile: John McClelland

John McClelland, GS, graduated from high school as student body president, captain of the debate team, and a self-proclaimed “geek.” He was the perfect Columbia pre-frosh—and yet it took him six years, several continents, and a successful career in the military to finally arrive in Morningside Heights. His first detour was France.

“After high school, I ran away to France. I lived six months by my wits in France. My accomplishments I’d rather not say, but I was able to survive on very little,” he said.

His next pit stop was more calculated and was one that shaped his experience at Columbia: the military. McClelland is one of Columbia’s most active military veterans and is graduating from the School of General Studies with a degree in history.

After his spontaneous stint in France, he shipped off to basic training for the Army in April 2003. With a parent in the military, it was something that had always been on his mind. Moreover, he viewed some time with the Army as a challenge.

“For me, it was really testing myself and knowing that I could accomplish certain things,” McClelland said, “that the skinny military brat who lettered in debate, didn’t letter in sports, could climb up a mountain with 150 pounds of gear and assault a building at the end of it.”

McClelland claims he was constantly seeking to put himself in extreme situations—all the way up to his decision to attend Columbia.

“That’s why I ran away to France—to see if I could do it and survive and learn things there,” he said. “And finally when that experience came to its natural end, I joined the military. And when that experience came to its natural end, I decided to go to college finally.”

Upon arriving on campus in January 2008, he chose to embrace his past in the military, forming close friendships with other student veterans.

“If somebody can understand you and where you’re coming from, it is a breath of fresh air in an environment where you’re constantly alienating yourself purposely to create a better image of yourself,” McClelland said. “It’s almost like a home to go back to.”

McClelland soon became president of the U.S. Military Veterans of Columbia University, president of the Hamilton Society, and battalion commander for the New York City Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. He was also instrumental in MilVets’ successful efforts this year to bring ROTC back to Columbia and to lobby Congress for revisions on the new GI Bill.

However, he says his biggest accomplishments at Columbia were about building community among student veterans.

“You cannot discuss my experience at Columbia without discussing MilVets. We built that organization up from like 35 veterans to 300 over the course of three years. ... I’d like to say that I helped be a part of that community,” McClelland said. “I won’t say that I created it, but I helped be a part of it.”

As he leaves Columbia and the military community that it has fostered, McClelland said he is venturing into the business world. He will be an analyst at McKinsey and Company next year, while picking up a commission at the National Guard as an infantry officer. Hoping to start his own company one day, McClelland said he recognizes the value of really hard work.

“If you want to get anywhere, you have to work your ass off for it,” he said. “Columbia has given me an opportunity to reinstate myself and to also give me the intellect tools to digest problems in order to solve them. It’s really a combination of optimism and hard work.”

arvin.ahmadi@columbiaspectator.com