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ROTC back at Harvard?
.250Savage
Member Posts: 812 ✭✭✭✭
Jeez, and all it took was 6,000 deaths for these fecal craniums to realize the military makes their little socialist agenda possible...Harvard alumni rally for ROTCUniversity banished the program in 1969By Jay Lindsay ASSOCIATED PRESS October 11, 2001 BOSTON -- Thirty-two years after Harvard banished ROTC from a campus roiled by anti-war protests, influential alumni are urging the university to welcome it back.Advocates say the school's stand sends the wrong message about the military at a time when U.S. troops responding to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 are at risk overseas."I would say it's deplorable," said David Clayman, a member of the class of 1938, who founded Advocates for Harvard ROTC.ROTC training is available to Harvard students, but they have to conduct their drills off campus, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology nearby. Anonymous donors pay MIT $135,000 to cover the costs of training Harvard cadets.Clayman has collected 900 signatures from alumni calling for Harvard to again recognize ROTC, and expects thousands more. Among the signers are former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and Staples Inc. founder Leo Kahn. Clayman plans to submit the petition to Harvard's president."No one can deny military training is a vital part of today's life, like any other academic study," Weinberger said.Reserve Officers' Training Corps was established in 1916 to ensure educated men were well-represented in the military. It provides students with thousands of dollars in scholarships in return for a commitment to serve in the military after graduation.Harvard banished ROTC in 1969 during the Vietnam War. Several other schools, including Yale, Dartmouth and New York University, did the same. Harvard also stopped funding the program in 1995, saying the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy toward gays violated the university's non-discrimination policy.With no campus office, the 43 Harvard cadets in the Army, Navy and Air Force ROTC must travel to MIT.Harvard spokesman Joe Wrinn said the school has made sure students could still participate in ROTC by finding the donors."We have nothing but the highest appreciation for students who make this commitment," he said. "The bottom line here continues to be that those who wish to be a part of ROTC can be."The move to re-establish ROTC at Harvard is a touchy issue on the famously liberal campus in Cambridge, where a recent peace rally drew several times more students than a patriotism rally.This week, an undergraduate council member proposed reopening debate on ROTC, but he was rebuffed by members who worried the issue would be too divisive.Lawrence Summers, Harvard's new president, recently called military service "noble.""We need to be careful about adopting any policy on campus of non-support for those involved in defending the country," he said, according to the Harvard Crimson, the student newspaper. "Every Harvard student should be proud that we have in our midst students who make the commitment to ROTC."Senior cadet Charles Cromwell called ROTC the best thing about his time at Harvard, despite the early morning drills and rigorous exercise. He said Harvard's ban on ROTC is "a pretty powerful statement: You don't want military on campus. You don't even want to see it."Even if Harvard were to recognize ROTC, the Army would not return because it would be too costly, said Maj. Robert W. Curran, assistant professor of military science at MIT's ROTC program. However, Harvard's support would send a positive message, and allow ROTC to recruit on campus and enjoy the free mailing privileges of other Harvard groups, he said.Some say the school should not change its policy until the military lifts its ban on gays."I think it would be a huge mistake," said Kevin Jennings, a member of Harvard's Gay and Lesbian Caucus. He added, "The people making this argument should be ashamed of themselves for taking advantage of a national crisis to advance their agenda."Copyright 2001 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
I may disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.--Voltare
I may disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.--Voltare
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