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| Now That DADT is DEAD, will Harvard Allow ROTC? |
| 2010-12-24 |
| Repeal of the Defense Department's "don't ask, don't tell" policy ends a long and sorry history of discrimination against gays and lesbians in military service. Wait. I thought Clinton signed that into law. It was DOD all along? It was Congress, not DoD. It may also herald the end of another lamentable episode in civil-military relations: the ouster of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) from some of the nation's most prestigious colleges and universities. They'd be more prestigious if they hadn't been so obviously anti-military. Ivy League institutions kicked ROTC off campus in the 1960s - partly the result of a faculty protest against the Vietnam War, partly to appease sometimes-violent antiwar students. Universities generally did not formally ban ROTC but stripped it of autonomy and for-credit status, without which the program could not operate. Vietnam ended, but the de facto ban did not; instead, it found a new rationale when Congress passed "don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) in 1993. Between 1975 and 1993, they were just anti-military, then they found a new cause to hang on their lefty position. The campus ban was the wrong way to make a valid point: Though operating under Thus, repeal of DADT offers the Ivies and similar schools an opportunity to rejoin the national mainstream. They should seize it - as the presidents of Yale, Harvard and Columbia have already implied they would. I ain't holding my breath. To be sure, institutions separated for so many years may find it difficult, at first, to work together. Some in both the military and academia have grown comfortable with the status quo and may seek new reasons to perpetuate it. Perhaps the least convincing argument against restoration of Ivy League ROTC is that there won't be enough student interest to warrant the expense. We have a broader notion of cost-effectiveness and a higher opinion of these young scholars' willingness to serve. Leaders in both the Defense Department and the universities should insist that they get the chance. Fairly fair, for the WaPo, I thought. |
| Posted by:Bobby |
| #7 P2K, the UCMJ, like the Constitution, is just a living document to liberals. It can be ignored or enforced as needed. In my opinion, the worst is to come - gays will demand special protected status, so that no one can say ANYTHING against them. Anyone who even yells at them or disciplines them for any reason will be up on charges of homophobia. I know that homophobia isn't in the UCMJ, but maybe Congress could substitute it for article 125. |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2010-12-24 16:24 |
| #6 [Clears throat]..but they didn't repeal Art 125 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, subsection of Title 10 U.S.C. They just opened another proverbial 'can of worms'. |
| Posted by: P2kontheroad 2010-12-24 10:48 |
| #5 Since the proper way to protest DADT would have been to ban members of congress from campus, the left will have to find a new rationale just like in 1993. Probably for being insufficiently 'green' and causing global warming. |
| Posted by: Free Radical 2010-12-24 10:33 |
| #4 If you want to do ROTC at Harvard now, you take a ten minute Red Line trip down to MIT. I'd prefer they keep it that way because, if they bring it back, Drew Gilpin Faust is liable to break a few ribs patting herself on the back celebrating how enlightened she is. "See. We even support knuckle dragging neanderthals that want to serve in the military"... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2010-12-24 09:45 |
| #3 Given how well the Ivy League grads have run the nation and economy, I'd rather they NOT be in the military. I'd rather have grads from patriotic ethical institutions |
| Posted by: Frank G 2010-12-24 09:37 |
| #2 Do not be surprise if the Harvard ROTC will be 'jam packed' with Gays. It will look like the Village people walking around campus. |
| Posted by: airandee 2010-12-24 09:00 |
| #1 ...In fairness, Harvard and Yale both announced moves towards reestablishing ROTC within hours of the repeal. The trouble is that no matter how the school presidents feel (and FWIW, I think they really are willing to bring it back) the faculties and students will fight tooth and nail to resist. In the end then, this means nothing. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2010-12-24 08:18 |