Word: rotc
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...April 4 letter, Undergraduate Council President Noah Z. Seton '00 tries to deflect criticism of his administration, specifically regarding the recent ROTC bill. But in defending himself, Seton seriously mischaracterizes both the nature of the debate and the content of the final bill...
...most disturbing characteristics of the recent council debate, and the current administration, are not that the council is truly depoliticized. Rather, the council tries to disguise conservative political statements in apolitical language. The ROTC bill clearly contradicts Harvard's nondiscrimination policy and is a strong political statement that military recruitment on campus is more important than protection of homosexuals from discrimination at Harvard...
However, political considerations cannot be excised from this debate. Despite Harvard's 1994 decision, students were allowed to participate in ROTC at the MIT campus, and ROTC students continue to have this opportunity today. The motivation behind the council bill was the inconvenience that ROTC members must endure to participate in classes...
However, all Harvard students have the choice to cross-register for classes at MIT, or even other schools of the university, some of which are located in far more "inconvenient" locations. In choosing to join ROTC, students accept the commute as an inconvenience in exchange for the opportunity to serve as a cadet or midshipman, and this is certainly a noble choice. Similarly, students who wish to cross-register at another school accept the commute as a cost of participation. However, while gay and lesbian students are allowed to register for most classes at MIT, they do not have...
...Harvard administration should stand by the principle of non-discrimination that it asserted five years ago in barring ROTC activities and recruitment on our campus. In considering this issue, think about which is more valuable: accommodating the inconveniences of ROTC students who have participated in MIT's ROTC program successfully for the past 30 years or upholding the principle of non-discrimination which protects us as members of the Harvard community...