SDS Circulates Petition Seeking ROTC's Removal

The SDS Anti-War Committee is circulating a petition demanding the complete abolition of ROTC at Harvard. Between 300 and 400 students have already signed.

Signatures are being collected in dining rooms but more thorough canvassing of the University may begin soon.

Coordinator Mike Kazin '70 said he was uncertain as to how many signatures he hoped to obtain. He said he also does not know exactly what will be done with the signatures.

The Harvard Undergraduate Council recommended last week that credit be withdrawn from ROTC courses. The HUC resolution will probably be brought up before the Faculty at the November meeting under new business.

SDS spokesmen termed the HUC recommendation "a step in the right direction, but not enough." While HUC based its objection on the fact that ROTC instructors are working for the government, SDS denies that is the relevant moral issue, or that removal of credit would cleanse the university of responsibility.

The real issue, as expressed in the petition, is that "U.S. armed forces, including ROTC graduates, are being used to impose a corrupt dictatorship on the people of South Vietnam, and Harvard students have no more right than Harvard's administration or the American government to support or aid that policy."

SDS looks upon the fight against ROTC as a direct way to bring pressure upon the military to end the war in Vietnam. "Writing letters to senators and supporting peace candidates have proved to be ineffective," said Mark Dyen '70, a member of last year's executive committee. "With ROTC put off college campuses, the military would be substantially weakened."