Harvard reinstates ROTC after 41 years

Harvard University signed an agreement with the U.S. Navy to officially recognize the Reserve Officers Training Corps on Friday, two months after Congress passed legislation allowing gays to serve openly in the military.

After 41 years of not recognizing Harvard’s ROTC branch on campus, the agreement ended the conflict between Harvard and the United States’ military, stemming from problems beginning with the Vietnam War.

“The decision by Harvard University to formally welcome the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps to its campus is an important step in moving past the old divisions that often kept many Americans from seeing what we share with one another, including love of country and a profound respect for our brave men and women in uniform,” Harvard officials said in a press release.

Encouraged by President Barack Obama’s urge for college campuses to open their doors to the military after “don’t ask don’t tell” was repealed in his State of the Union address, Harvard reinstated the ROTC, according to a March 4 press release.

However, U.S. Navy Captain Paul E. Mawn (Ret.) said that it was mainly reinstated due to politics.

“It was unrecognized because of anti-military perspective from people against the war in Vietnam and was thrown off a lot of campuses, but people here still participated,” Mawn, a 1963 graduate of Harvard and Chairman of the Advocates for Harvard ROTC, said in a phone interview.

“Harvard said they didn’t officially recognize the ROTC by using the excuse that they wouldn’t allow discrimination from ‘don’t ask don’t tell,’ but the decision had been made decades before that was implemented,” Mawn said. “When the Democratic Congress took away the one shield a bunch of schools hid behind, Harvard had to allow ROTC to operate.”

Harvard students who still wished to participate in the ROTC program could still participate through a host school, such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. However they would have to go to the MIT consortium for training on the athletic facilities and to take military science classes.

Twenty students are currently enrolled in Harvard’s ROTC program, with 10 in the naval branch, Mawn said. This is not enough to complete a full-fledged unit so students will continue to utilize MIT’s services.

While ROTC was once, as Mawn described it, “a banned fraternity,” Harvard said they will provide an office space as well as an area for training and classrooms if necessary.

However Harvard students, Mawn said, are indifferent toward the changes.

“Most of the students are apathetic,” he said. “As opposed to the 1960s when students were anarchists and anti-military and supported the communist governments. Now most students don’t care as opposed to antagonism toward the idea.”

However, Harvard continues to move forward as officials’ hope this move encourages other schools to reinstate their ROTC programs.

“With our nation at war, this sends a powerful message that Americans stand united and that our colleges, society and armed forces are stronger when we honor the contributions of all our citizens, especially our troops and military families who sacrifice for our freedoms,” Harvard officials said in the press release. “It is time to move forward as one nation.”