In 1995, James J. Lennon, Columbia College Class of 1943 and a WWII veteran, started a campaign to build a memorial on campus to honor Columbia undergraduates who died in the war. Over the years the scope of the memorial expanded to include all members of the Columbia community, not just undergraduates, and all the wars and conflicts since the founding of King's College. There was even a proposed monument that would be placed in a central part of campus (by the southwest corner of Low Library) with the hopes that it would offer a meditative space for remembrance. The design for the monument consisted of several short walls made of bronze bricks with names of the fallen alumni.

The final push for a memorial came from the members of the U.S. Military Veterans of Columbia (MilVets) who made their appeal to Provost Alan Brinkley in 2007. He convened the Working Group on War Remembrance. The preliminary list published in the Columbia College Today February 2000 issue included about 250 names of Columbians who had died in service. By the time the War Memorial Plaque at Butler Library was unveiled and the website was launched in December 2008, there were about 460 known alumni. Led by Executive Producer Vivian Ducat and Researcher Minda Novek, the accompanying online memorial, the Roll of Honor, was able to provide more context: about the wars, about Columbia at the time, and, for the fallen alumni, more than just a name. The researchers found images of many alumni, mostly in military dress but, for some, from their Columbia days. In addition to photographs, the site also invites family members, friends and others to submit "Tributes."