Harvard Perfects Its ROTC Dance Step: Delay-Delay-Delay

1994 was supposed to be the year Harvard resolved its stance towards funding for the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC).

But the past year's most significant development was a delay--President Neil L. Rudenstine put off a final decision on the University's ties to ROTC for another year.

For the past four years, committees, debates and delays have marked the Harvard's efforts to formulate a policy that would reconcile the University's own anti discrimination pledge with its desire to allow students to continue participation in the program.

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences officially opposes any ties to ROTC because of the military's anti-gay policies. The University currently pays MIT about $120,000 to compensate for the 67 Harvard students who participate in the program there.

According to a report submitted last year, Harvard was supposed to sever ties with ROTC by next fall. But several months after the Faculty voted to cut ROTC funding, Rudenstine made the announcement that would delay a decision for another year.

"We have been pursuing the possibility of a modified arrangement with MIT that would both affirm our policy of nondiscrimination and maintain ROTC as an option for students attending Harvard," said University spokesperson Jonathan New.

Rudenstine's decision sparked little protest from gay rights groups on campus, which mobilized a protest of 300 students, faculty and community members to object to the invitation to Gen. Colin L. Powell to speak at Commencement last year.

"We don't think the delay is justified," said Dennis K. Lin '94, former chair of the Bisexual, Gay and Lesbian Student Association (BGLSA). "On the other hand, we understand how this could be a prolonged process.'

Last month, leaders from BGLSA and the Civil Liberties Union at Harvard (CLUH) presented Rudenstine with a petition signed by 508 undergraduates demanding that the University return their share of tuition money used to support ROTC.

In response, Rudenstine reiterated that he and MIT President Charles Vest were negotiating about Harvard's ties.

"We're really concerned about the recent developments. It's very important that President Rudenstine be up front with us," said John A. Redding '96, gay projects leader for CLUH.

Rudenstine's decision to delay was in line with the report approved by the Faculty in 1993 which allowed the President leeway to postpone the decision if he saw fit.

"We recommend that...1994 be a target or planning date, not a rigid requirement. This flexibility, however, is not meant to be a license for delay," the report said.

In each of the last three years, Harvard has pledged to make a final decision about its ties to ROTC, but each year the issue remains on the agenda.

Four years ago, the Faculty Council criticized the Department of Defense's ban on gays in the military and in its ROTC program.

In an official statement, the council recommended that Harvard's participation in the ROTC program be suspended in two years if "insufficient progress in resolving the issue of discrimination has been made to justify continuing our support and cooperation."

But instead of making a decision when the deadline approached, the Faculty Council appointed a committee headed by Pforzheimer University Professor Sidney Verba '53 to examine the ROTC issue in depth.

The Verba committee issued a report in October 1992 saying the University could allow students to continue in MIT's ROTC program, but that Harvard should stop paying MIT the compensation fee.

The Faculty discussed the report in November, but did not vote on it until the University announced last May that Powell had been invited to speak at Commencement.

The Faculty supported the resolution by a large majority in order to act as a "counterweight" to Powell's invitation, according to Professor of English and Comparative Literature Barbara E. Johnson, who sponsored the vote.

As chair of the joint chiefs of staff, Powell had been a vocal opponent of letting openly gay people into the military.

But the Faculty also supported Rudenstine's recent decision to delay a choice on ROTC for a year.

"We did say that if there were clear progress in either governmental policy or in negotiations with MIT, there could be a delay," Verba said in a recent interview.

There was some confusion earlier this year about how seriously the University was taking the negotiations with MIT. Though Rudenstine delayed the decision because of what he later called "substantive discussions," an MIT official denied any knowledge of the talks in April.

"I'm not aware of the Harvard administration negotiating any kind of agreement with the MIT administration," said Sarah E. Gallop, assistant for government relations at MIT. "We've never been formally asked by anybody at Harvard to consider that kind of arrangement."

Two weeks later, after Harvard spokesperson New insisted the meetings were taking place. Gallop said she had recently discovered that there had been conversations about ROTC between Rudenstine and Vest.

There was no word, however, on the frequency or duration of any talks.

But after talking with Rudenstine, both Redding and Lin said they felt reassured about the president's candor in the matter.

"I believe him," Lin said. "He has been very gay-friendly. I think he's sincere."

And Redding said, "He is an intelligent person who has the ability to see what's right."

But Lin warned that if Rudenstine delayed the decision for another year, students would not be silent.

"If they decide to delay this, there will be protests," Lin said. "A year should be a more than sufficient amount of time."