Faculty Council Votes To Delay ROTC Report

A Faculty Council vote yesterday effectively voided their May 1990 ultimatum recommending that Harvard sever all ties with ROTC on May 2 if the military had not changed its policy banning gays.

The vote gives the committee on ROTC an extension on its report to the council until next fall, Acting Council Secretary John B. Fox '59 said yesterday. The council will not commit to a concrete action on the ROTC issue until it receives the report.

The council voted on May 2, 1990 to recommend suspending Harvard's participation in the program if at the end of two years ROTC did not progress in resolving issues of discrimination against gays and lesbians. Currently, the program does not admit homosexuals.

While the report, originally due early next month, is not expected before the fall, Fox said that the council would like to examine it earlier if it is ready. The latest possible deadline, he said, would be the council's first meeting of the 1992-93 school year.

Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles said yesterday that the council granted the extension so that the committee could "produce a through and considered report and a well-argued discussion of the issues."

In order to elicit further responses from the University community, the committee will hold an open forum next Wednesday night, April 8, from 7 to 9 p.m. in Sever 113, said Pforzheimer University Professor Sidney Verba '53, who chairs the ROTC committee.

"There are lots of people who have views on the subject," Verba said. "We wanted to make sure that we had heard from everyone."

Verba said that because the committee was onlyformed this February, assembling all the variousfaculty and student members would make itdifficult to produce the report by its originaldeadline.

With more time, Knowles said, the committeewill also be able to consult MIT and othercolleges more thoroughly.

Once the committee presents its report, Verbasaid, the council can either make a recommendationdirectly to President Neil L. Rudenstine and theHarvard Corporation, or bring the matter beforethe full Faculty.

Rudenstine and the members of the corporationwill make the final decision on whether to severties.

Fox said that because application material forthe class of 1997 will be published withoutknowledge of the final decision on ROTC, incomingstudents from classes until that year or possiblylater would not be affected by the decision.

Students interviewed last night said that theextension will provide council members with thenecessary facts for an informed decision.

Bisexual, Gay and Lesbian Students AssociationCo-Chair Sandra Cavazos '92 said she thinks thereport's timing is less important than itsaccuracy.

Cavazos said she, BGLSA member Jed D. Kolko '92and a law school student met with the committee,and were pleased with the responsiveness of itsmembers.

"They were very sympathetic," she said. "I wasvery pleased."

Although the faculty's decision may be delayed,Cavazos said she will not stop working on the ROTCissue.

Cavazos said that within the next couple ofweeks she plans to draft a letter to thecommittee, which will be signed by the leaders ofall University gay organizations.

In addition, she said, she and Kolko willparticipate in a Harvard Political Union debate onROTC with members of the Republican Club in thelast week of April.

Republican Club President Emil G. Michael '94said he and Republican Club Policy DirectorChristopher L. Garcia '95 will represent the clubin the forum. They have represented the club inmeetings with three members of the ROTC committee.

The Republican Club will also continue to workon the ROTC issue, meeting with the remainingcommittee members and launching a campus postercampaign, distributing green "Support ROTC" flyersto be placed in dorm windows, Michael said.

He said he feared that with the delay, thereport on ROTC would come out in the summer andthus limit student input. But he said he was lessconcerned after he and other Republican Clubmembers met with President Rudenstine yesterday.

"He assured us the decision would not comeabout until school is in session," Michael said.

Michael said he thinks the committee's delay,and its abandonment of the ultimatum, is a goodsign.

"There is some serious consideration going onthat that resolution was misplaced," Michael said

Verba said that because the committee was onlyformed this February, assembling all the variousfaculty and student members would make itdifficult to produce the report by its originaldeadline.

With more time, Knowles said, the committeewill also be able to consult MIT and othercolleges more thoroughly.

Once the committee presents its report, Verbasaid, the council can either make a recommendationdirectly to President Neil L. Rudenstine and theHarvard Corporation, or bring the matter beforethe full Faculty.

Rudenstine and the members of the corporationwill make the final decision on whether to severties.

Fox said that because application material forthe class of 1997 will be published withoutknowledge of the final decision on ROTC, incomingstudents from classes until that year or possiblylater would not be affected by the decision.

Students interviewed last night said that theextension will provide council members with thenecessary facts for an informed decision.

Bisexual, Gay and Lesbian Students AssociationCo-Chair Sandra Cavazos '92 said she thinks thereport's timing is less important than itsaccuracy.

Cavazos said she, BGLSA member Jed D. Kolko '92and a law school student met with the committee,and were pleased with the responsiveness of itsmembers.

"They were very sympathetic," she said. "I wasvery pleased."

Although the faculty's decision may be delayed,Cavazos said she will not stop working on the ROTCissue.

Cavazos said that within the next couple ofweeks she plans to draft a letter to thecommittee, which will be signed by the leaders ofall University gay organizations.

In addition, she said, she and Kolko willparticipate in a Harvard Political Union debate onROTC with members of the Republican Club in thelast week of April.

Republican Club President Emil G. Michael '94said he and Republican Club Policy DirectorChristopher L. Garcia '95 will represent the clubin the forum. They have represented the club inmeetings with three members of the ROTC committee.

The Republican Club will also continue to workon the ROTC issue, meeting with the remainingcommittee members and launching a campus postercampaign, distributing green "Support ROTC" flyersto be placed in dorm windows, Michael said.

He said he feared that with the delay, thereport on ROTC would come out in the summer andthus limit student input. But he said he was lessconcerned after he and other Republican Clubmembers met with President Rudenstine yesterday.

"He assured us the decision would not comeabout until school is in session," Michael said.

Michael said he thinks the committee's delay,and its abandonment of the ultimatum, is a goodsign.

"There is some serious consideration going onthat that resolution was misplaced," Michael said