Faust's Prerogative

University President Drew G. Faust made known last week that she will attend the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) commissioning ceremony this spring. In so doing, Faust finds herself following in the footsteps of her predecessor Lawrence H. Summers, who was a strong advocate for students participating in ROTC during his term. John D. Longbrake, a spokesperson on President Faust’s behalf, did not specify what her specific role in the ceremony will be, but told The Crimson that President Faust would be “part of the program.”

The ROTC program, which serves Harvard students in association with the battalion at nearby MIT, is a worthy one, and therefore President Faust should be commended for choosing to take part in the ceremony. The members of Harvard’s undergraduate community who take part in ROTC are admirable members of our College, who face service after graduation bravely and steadfastly. Particularly in these politically uncertain times, that these young people are willing to risk sacrificing themselves for our country is something quite exceptional.

Regrettably, however, these turbulent times are not the only thing that is coloring the state of the ROTC program at colleges such as ours. Currently, the United States Military prevents openly gay citizens from enlisting in the armed services, as it continues to adhere to the discriminatory institution of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.” Although born out of the Clinton years, “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” is inconsistent with Harvard University’s prerogative of social progressivism.

The policy is so inconsistent with our institution’s humanitarian principles, in fact, that many members of the Harvard community correctly cite the discriminatory policy as the most compelling reason to continue prohibiting ROTC on Harvard’s campus. ROTC was banned from this end of Cambridge several decades ago, during the height of campus dissent over Vietnam. Our sense of tolerance for political ideologies has hopefully evolved since that time, but certainly our tolerance for gay students has only grown rightly stronger. Therefore, while it is unfortunate for individuals in our Harvard community to be so inconvenienced from not having a ROTC program of their own, the symbolic gesture has taken on a new and important meaning in the stand against institutionalized intolerance for homosexuality.

When President Faust speaks at the commissioning ceremony this June, we hope she will seize on this important moment—a moment in which she will likely have the ear of high-ranking military officials as well as media—to draw attention to the disgusting nature of this policy. Faust ought to specifically criticize “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” and call for it to end.

Moreover, we hope Faust will make note of specific efforts among students in our own community to rally against this policy. For instance, this spring, a contingent of undergraduates and graduate students will take part in the Right to Serve Tour, which seeks to protest the discriminatory policy. Over the course of a week in May, the tour will travel across the country and stop at various locations where an openly gay Harvard student will attempt to enlist in the military. Accompanying students will, upon the student’s presumed refusal for enlistment, stage a sit-in at these recruiting stations in the name of meaningful change.

Though immediate change may be unlikely, we hope that efforts such as these by our students and administrators will strengthen the fight against “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.” And when the backward policy is eventually ended in the name of social progressivism, we hope that Harvard’s central administration will welcome ROTC back onto our campus in the name of renewed social and ideological progressivism.

These are uncertain times in which we as a college and as a nation ought to be banding together. When divisive policies such as “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” come to an end, we will be able to properly honor the service of our military to the fullest extent.