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Setting a tone
Harvard's new president, Drew Faust, gave her inaugural address last Friday--and was accompanied during the closing recessional by none other than seven members of Harvard's ROTC corps. The flag-bearing color guard included students from Harvard's Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine squads, and bears tremendous symbolic significance.
Harvard has not hosted an on-campus ROTC program since 1969, when anti-Vietnam fervor resulted in the program being banned. Since then, Harvard cadets have commuted to MIT to train--and since the mid-90s, when the faculty voted to protest "don't ask, don't tell" by withdrawing financial support for ROTC, Harvard has not paid the annual fee required to maintain its cadets in MIT's program. Now anonymous alumni pay the six-figure dues that enable Harvard undergraduates to combine their studies with preparation for national service.
When Lawrence Summers was president of Harvard, he made a point of expressing his support for ROTC, speaking at the annual officer commissioning ceremony and even allowing that ceremony to be held in Harvard Yard. When Summers left, many worried that ROTC would lose the respect and acceptance it had gained during his presidency; those worries gained traction when both interim president Derek Bok and incoming president Faust failed to attend this year's commissioning ceremony.
But Faust was receptive when ROTC members proposed the color guard. Last February, Faust stated that she has "enormous respect for these students who commit themselves to this effort and to the service of their country" and observed that "It might be a time to look at [the issue of ROTC on campus] again and see what the right positions on these issues are." Now, Faust's willingness to include ROTC in such an important defining moment for her presidency suggests there is reason to hope for continued improving relations between the Harvard administration and the small but dedicated group of students who have committed themselves not only to their education, but to their country.
"We see it as an honor to represent both Harvard and the military at such an event as both institutions are very important in all our lives," said Marine midshipman Shawna Sinnot ('10). Army cadet Daniel Bilotti ('09) agrees: "We were very pleasantly surprised, and we hope that it is a new beginning for the relationship between ROTC and Harvard," he said.
Also encouraging: Faust recently attended a lecture delivered by Phyllis Schlafly. Twelve of the 70 audience members walked out to protest Schlafly's views--but to her great credit, Faust stayed.
For more, see Anthony Paletta's post at Minding the Campus.
Posted by acta online at October 17, 2007 06:55 PM
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