The Harvard College Democrats, Harvard College Republicans, and Harvard Political Union host six undergraduates to address the implications of Harvard’s policies toward ROTC.

CLARIFICATION APPENDED

Six Harvard undergraduates—each a member of a Reserve Officer Training Corps branch—led a panel discussion last night on the challenges created by Harvard’s refusal to officially recognize their service, capping off a week of student activism on behalf of ROTC.

The Harvard Republican Club sponsored the campaign, which coincides with the fortieth anniversary of the ROTC’s 1969 expulsion from campus.

About 60 students attended the panel discussion, which was co-sponsored by the Harvard College Democrats and the Harvard Political Union as well as the HRC.

Harvard continues to bar ROTC participants from University funding and support for ROTC programs due to the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, enacted in 1993.

Citing the “current federal policy of excluding known lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals from admission to ROTC,” the University says that the exclusion in its Student Handbook is consistent with its policy against discrimination.

As a result, cadets and midshipmen are forced to trek to MIT several times a week in order to train, though they receive no credit for their classwork there. Moreover, several panelists said they had sometimes faced ostracism or even hostility from faculty and peers because of their participation in ROTC.

“It gets to the point where you don’t want to wear your uniform to class because you know you’re going to stand out,” said ROTC participant Shawna L. Sinnott ’10.

The students also cited several other concerns about Harvard’s refusal to recognize ROTC, including the fact that Harvard revokes the financial aid offers for students who accept ROTC scholarships. Panelist Christi E. Morrissey ’10 said that this policy has forced some students to leave ROTC due to financial considerations. [SEE CLARIFICATION BELOW]

The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy was not mentioned often throughout the event, though some panelists expressed resentment about their perception that they have been exploited as part of Harvard’s stance against discrimination.

“I don’t think that we have to be the means for them to make that political statement,” said panelist Joseph M. Kristol ’09.

The event marked the end of the HRC’s week-long campaign for ROTC recognition, an effort which has included a rally outside the Science Center on Wednesday as well as a poll of student support for the program. The effort has also ignited lively debate on house lists and club email chains, with students on both sides expressing strong opinions on the issue.

HRC President Colin J. Motley ’10 said he believes that the College’s refusal to officially recognize ROTC represents a misguided—and unfair—protest against policies that were implemented by the federal government, rather than the U.S. military.

“If Harvard wants to change the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, they should be punishing the federal government,” Motley said.

On the other side of the issue, Harvard College Queer Students and Allies Co-Chair Marco Chan ’11 said that while he recognizes and values the service of ROTC students, he believes that Harvard cannot officially recognize ROTC without implicitly endorsing institutionalized military homophobia.

“As inconvenient as [Harvard’s policy] might be, the fact is that students at Harvard are still allowed to participate in ROTC,” Chan said. “The same cannot be said for queer students and the military.”

Prompted by the 1969 storming of University Hall by student activists, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences took a strong stand against the Corps that year, officially requesting that the University refuse to grant credit from all ROTC courses. The University’s current relationship with the Corps was solidified in 1976, after a Faculty vote allowed cadets’ cross-registration at MIT, but without the possibility of credit.

President Drew G. Faust has not taken a public stance on the issue of official recognition during her tenure. Although she has expressed her desire that Harvard support a larger population of cadets—saying at last year’s ROTC commissioning ceremony, “I wish that there were more of you”—Faust has also said that she wishes openly gay students had an equal opportunity to serve in the armed forces.

—Staff writer Edward-Michael Dussom can be reached at emdussom@fas.harvard.edu

—Staff writer Evan T. R. Rosenman can be reached at erosenm@fas.harvard.edu

CLARIFICATION

The April 26 news article "Panel Discusses ROTC Challenges" incorrectly implied that Harvard punishes students in ROTC by revoking financial aid offers for students taking ROTC scholarships, based on statements from a panelist at the event. In fact, Harvard treats ROTC scholarship money as it does other outside scholarship funds when evaluating financial aid levels, and accepting a ROTC scholarship does not change the overall level of aid received by the student.