CLUH Opposes ROTC Ties

I was quite surprised to read in the June 10 issue of The Crimson that "the only [Harvard student] group that took a vocal stand against Harvard's connection to ROTC was the Bisexual, Gay and Lesbian Students Association (BGLSA)." Although David Lat's article, "Where Have All the Liberals Gone?" highlighted partisan organizations, the Civil Liberties Union of Harvard (CLUH) has been on record as opposing the continued affiliation of ROTC with the university since April 26, 1989.

CLUH issued a report on ROTC in the fall of 1991 that proposed essentially the same course of action that the Faculty of Arts and Sciences has endorsed, that Harvard should cease providing ROTC with financial support but permit students to continue to participate on an individual basis.

CLUH reaffirmed this position in the fall of 1992, and has since collected more than one thousand postcards asking President Clinton to act promptly to end discrimination against gays in the military.

As a civil liberties advocacy organization, CLUH may be hard to fix on a political spectrum. However, I hope that our efforts to protect and expand students' rights, be they that of free speech or the right to associate, have not been overlooked in campus debates. Jol Silversmith '94   Former director, CLUH