U. Council to vote on ROTC removal today

University Council members today will likely endorse a faculty committee's recommendation that ROTC be removed from campus until it stops discriminating against homosexuals. But President Sheldon Hackney is not expected to act on the Council's decision for some time. A resolution up for vote today at Council's first meeting of the semester "endorses the conclusions and recommendations" of a Faculty Senate committee report which found that the policy of the Reserve Officer Training Corps excluding homosexuals contradicts the University's non-discrimination code. According to the policy, the University "does not discriminate on the basis of . . . sexual or affectional preference" in its academic programs. Assistant to the President Nicholas Constan said yesterday he expects Hackney will listen to what is said in the meeting, but will not make a firm decision about whether to remove the two campus ROTC units. "With regard to ROTC, he is still listening," Constan said. "He is hearing from people on and off campus. He is writing to and talking to people. The aim, if possible, is to get the policy changed without losing ROTC. If that becomes impossible, he is going to have to decide." "One keeps one's options open the best way one can," Constan added. "If you want people to listen to you, you have to have them believe that you are considering all options." Kenneth George, who chaired the Faculty Senate committee that made the recommendation, said he expects the University Council resolution to pass. Michael Goldstein, chairperson of the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly and a member of the Steering Committee, also said he expects the body to affirm the committee's findings. "Though I can't forecast individual votes, I would be very surprised if the resolution does not get widespread support," Goldstein said. "People feel a University Council resolution seems to be needed." "I feel the president and the provost are more inclined now than they were previously to begin the process [of removing the campus units]," Goldstein added. The president should take action to adhere to existing University policy, to make a statement to the government, and to let incoming students know if ROTC will exist or not, Goldstein said. "We should start the process so the incoming freshman is appropriately informed as to the availability of the program," Goldstein said. In other, unrelated business, Chief Planning Officer Robert Zemsky will present the campus master planning framework and Vice Provost for University Life Kim Morrisson and Material Science and Engineering Professor David Pope will present the report of the Committee to Diversify Locust Walk. The University Council meeting, which is open to all members of the University community, will be held this afternoon in Vance Hall's Hoover Lounge from 4 to 6 p.m.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.