Uncle Sam Closes In

Now that draft boards have begun inducting twenty-year-olds, many Harvard students taking leaves of absence are in danger of being drafted while away from school. Most local draft boards will continue granting 2-S deferments only if students are taking courses which count toward their degrees. Since most Harvard students want to get away from school completely during their year off, and since Harvard does not grant degree credit for courses taken elsewhere, leaves of absence have become perilous ventures indeed.

Dean Monro said recently that "your relationship to your draft board is something between you and Uncle Sam." He reiterated the University's strict policy of never requesting exemptions for students on leave. Senior Tutors, upon student request, will write local draft boards to explain that those taking leaves are generally admitted. Yet the University is aware that such letters have had little effect. A least one student has already been drafted while away, and several others have been forced to return to school ahead of schedule.

The University's refusal to request exemptions for students on leave displays a surprising disregard for the needs of its undergraduates. Harvard has long admitted that, for many students, a year's leave of absence constitutes an essential part of their college experience. Officials often recommend a leave to students who feel uncertain about their studies and their future. But Harvard's failure to protect their students taking leaves of absence can only mean fewer and fewer undergraduates will risk a year away.

If the University continues to regard the year off as an important part of a Harvard education, it should do everything in its power to win exemptions for students on leave. The Selective Service is not tapping everyone in its pool, and it does not need those few students who plan to return to college after a year away. Local draft boards seem suspicious of students requesting deferments during their leaves; only a change in national draft policy could ease their suspicious. Harvard enjoys considerable influence in Washington, and it would take little effort to present the case of its students to national draft officials. An assurance that the University itself considers the leave essential, and a guarantee that the student on leave will return to school, might well persuade the Selective Service to grant deferment. Continued silence by the University can only make the leave of absence a meaningless institution.