Word: rotc
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...future of ROTC has not been truly assured, as evidenced by the recommendation of the committee chaired by Pforzheimer University Professor Sidney Verba '53. This committee, which was formed by President Rudenstine to study the ROTC issue, had recommended that the University sever all ties with ROTC. Rudenstine fortunately disagreed, but who knows how long he can withstand the political pressure to completely eliminate ROTC...
...recommendation, the Verba Committee cited the military's ban on homosexuals as reason enough to end funding for ROTC. The ban, they claim, violates Harvard's non-discriminatory policy on terms of sexual orientation. The committee members are not alone in holding this attitude. Several student organizations on campus--most noticeably the Bisexual, Gay, and Lesbian Student Association--have come out against ROTC. In addition, several members of the Faculty Council have called for the cutting of ties with ROTC because of the ban on homosexuals. All these groups believe that only through public pressure will the military allow homosexuals...
Despite the evidence to the contrary, the Verba Committee called for the severing of all ties with ROTC. In so doing, they sent a blunt message to the military to either admit homosexuals or leave Harvard. Yet who are they to make such a decision? Simply being a member of the committee does not automatically make one omniscient, least of all in the field of military affairs...
President Rudenstine should not be totally excused either. While he did not totally cave in to the committee's recommendations, he still moved inexorably closer to severing all ties with ROTC. By cutting all official ties with ROTC the administration would tell the military that their presence is not wanted on campus. In this respect, the latest ROTC compromise is merely a further curtailment of the program...
...opposition to ROTC is based primarily upon a general feeling of contempt for the military, a contempt that is made all the worse because of its ungrateful character. When the recent push to expand public service by students is considered, the case for curtailing ROTC is further undermined...