The American Council of Trustess and Alumni sent Anne Neal to Columbia to deliever an address about Reserve Officer Training Corps and the elite universities that prevent it's presence from campus. ...Let me be clear up front: My intention today is not to debate DADT. The truth is that “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” imposed on the military by Congress, is irrelevant to the question of an appropriate policy toward ROTC on college campuses. The Solomon Amendment is what binds colleges and universities—and they violate it at the risk of their federal funding. My argument is more than a moral or even a legal argument. It is also a fiduciary one. Our colleges and universities have an obligation to recognize ROTC on campus. Today I call upon the trustees of elite schools—right now, today, immediately—to support the return of on-campus ROTC. We all know that it takes time to change things on campus. While not a Columbia graduate, Woodrow Wilson surely understood the challenges when he compared making change in a university to moving a graveyard. And it is why ACTA wrote to trustees at Columbia, Harvard, Yale, Chicago, Tufts, Brown and Stanford on June 23 with an urgent request. Let me read excerpts from our letter to the chairman of the Columbia board of trustees and to all other members of the board: Dear Mr. Campbell: Given clear indications that “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is on its way out, the primary stated objection to ROTC’s return on campus is being removed. It therefore appears to be an opportune time for the board to address this important issue. In the past, faculty and administrators have suggested that the decision to have an ROTC presence on campus belongs to them. While their input and opinion are surely essential on academic concerns, it is the board that has ultimate oversight of matters concerning student life and welfare. ROTC’s exclusion from campus has surely disadvantaged those students who have chosen to explore military careers and must travel many miles off campus to do so. The lack of a campus presence has also rendered it difficult for students to learn more about ROTC. We, of course, understand that restoring ROTC entails both administrative and academic challenges, especially with regard to managing ROTC’s place within the regular academic life of the university. But, that is why it is vital to act now. … We are concerned about the increasing divide between the military and civil society, which we believe is at least partially attributable to the barring of ROTC programs from many university campuses. We, therefore, urge the board immediately to communicate the value and desirability of restoring ROTC to campus, and to call upon the administration and faculty to study the matter and report, within a reasonable timeframe, on how this might be accomplished. Now—it has been four months since that letter was sent—and we have yet to hear from the chairman or the president—or anyone. Since some of you are likely in attendance, I would hope that you would go on record today. Now is the time for trustees to take the steps necessary to recognize this student choice on campus.... Four months without a response. Four. Months. Ms. Neal's entire address can be read here (PDF) and it's worth your time. As both a graduate of R.O.T.C. (Green to Gold) and a graduate of the University of Chicago, I believe that the elite universities would only enhance the diversity of their student bodies and graduates/alumni by allowing R.O.T.C. back on their campuses.
Read the complete post at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Blackfive/~3/uJYr9HhJmWc/elite-schools-continue-to-deny-rotc-on-campus.html
Posted
Nov 01 2010, 02:21 AM
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