Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA)

The Institute for Defense Analyses was established by the Department of Defense and Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1955 in order to obtain university research and counsel on such matters as weapons systems and the conditions of warfare. At its establishment, five universities became institutional sponsors and seven more joined during the next decade. Columbia University became an institutional member of IDA in 1959 and President Kirk served on the IDA Board of Trustees as well as its Executive Committee.

Columbia University received criticism for its affiliation with the Institute for Defense Analyses by SDS and other campus groups, symbolizing complicity in the Vietnam War. The severance of Columbia's ties with IDA was one of SDS's demands. Many educators and academics at Columbia were distressed by the secrecy in university research and the dependence on government contracts serving nonacademic interests. This issue coupled with the construction of the gymnasium in Harlem's Morningside Park led student protesters to takeover and occupy university buildings.