Harvard University officials are waiting with anticipation for the standalone vote to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, now slated for Saturday.
Harvard has said that it will allow ROTC, the military’s college officer training program that is currently banned from campus, to return upon repeal of DADT. The repeal is expected to pass, with Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown as the 61st vote.
“(President Drew Faust) is fully supportive of the courageous Harvard students who participate in ROTC and the dedicated men and women who serve in our nation’s military,” said Harvard spokesman John Longbrake in an emailed statement Thursday. “The current issue is about accessibility and making the opportunity to serve open to all Harvard students. We continue to support legislation to repeal the current policy and are following the debate with interest.”
The House of Representatives voted Wednesday on a bill to repeal DADT. A similar repeal measure attached to a defense appropriations bill died earlier this month, but Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) revived the effort by sponsoring the current standalone bill.
ROTC has been banned from Harvard’s campus since 1969, when it was forced to leave campus amidst protests over the Vietnam War and accusations that the program was academically below-par.
Today Harvard students who wish to participate in ROTC do so at neighboring Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Faust has publicly expressed support for the military and said that Harvard will “fully and formally restore” ROTC upon the repeal of DADT. Harvard says ROTC is banned because DADT places it in violation of the university’s prohibition of discrimination by student groups.
Speaking during a forum with Admiral Mike Mullen last month, Faust emphasized her support for the military while discussing ROTC.
“It is my personal belief that Harvard has a responsibility to this nation and its citizens,” Faust said, “a responsibility it has embraced since the earliest days of the republic with a long tradition of service and more Medal of Honor recipients than any other institution of higher education other than the service academies.”
“I want Harvard to be able to embrace both integrity and opportunity, both service and inclusion,” added Faust. “I want to be the president of Harvard who sees the end of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ because I want to be able to take the steps to ensure that any and every Harvard student is able to make the honorable and admirable choice to commit him- or herself to the nation’s defense.”
Wyatt Troia is a staff writer for the Harvard Salient. He is a member of the Student Free Press Association.
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