ROTC committee to propose 'arm's length' agreement for U.

Lingering questions on the present and future status of the University's Reserve Officers' Training Corps program -- which have frustrated faculty, staff, students and administrators for the past four years -- should be answered within two weeks. At that time, the Committee to Review the Status of ROTC at Penn will submit its preliminary report to Interim Provost Marvin Lazerson. Lazerson announced the committee's "preliminary decisions" at the May 4 University Council meeting. The committee examined options ranging from maintaining the status quo to changing the University's non-discrimination policy to terminating the University's involvement with ROTC, he said. It concluded that the current relationship between the University and ROTC should not be continued, Lazerson added. Instead, the committee recommended an "arm's length" arrangement, with no degree credit given for ROTC classes and no University funding for ROTC support staff, according to Lazerson. This arrangement is much like the one in place at Princeton, where ROTC is not given free on-campus meeting space or allowed to commission cadets on campus. Also, cadets do not receive special recognition at Commencement. However, the committee voted to give the ROTC program an "opportunity for return to full status if Department of Defense policy is revised," Lazerson said. "It was unanimous that this is an evolving national possibility that is going to change," said Captain Michael Tollefson, a committee member. "The courts may surpass the schools." Lazerson added that the committee engaged in an "extraordinary process," examining the impact of all proposed solutions on the economic, regional and gender balance of ROTC cadets, before coming to a consensus on a course of action. Regardless of the committee's recommendation, though, Lazerson said, "no student in ROTC will be adversely affected, and new students will be admitted [to the program]." "Breaking all ties with ROTC is no longer on the table," agreed Education Professor and committee member Kenneth George. "We came up with what we thought was the best option," he added. "[But], the Army and the Department of Defense may pull out in negotiations [of a new contract incorporating the changes], so that may be a moot point." Although the report will be published after most students have left campus for the summer, it is intended for "full comment" from the University community, Lazerson said at the recent Council meeting. Third-year Law student Cheryl Patterson, a Council representative who completed the ROTC program at Princeton University, raised concerns about the timing of the report's publication, because of its potential impact on undergraduates. But Lazerson assured her that "no action will be taken by the University administration until students return in the fall." At that time, a new administration, led by President-elect Judith Rodin and Provost-elect Stanley Chodorow will be in place. The University's ROTC program has been under scrutiny because of the U.S. Defense Department's policy toward homosexuals. Many have said that the policy, which does not permit homosexuals to serve in the military, conflicts with the University's non-discrimination policy. In 1990, Council passed a resolution recommending the removal of ROTC from campus by June 1993 if Defense Department policy had not changed. A similar resolution was passed in April 1991 by the Faculty Senate Committee on Conduct -- and again approved by Council -- but the June 1993 deadline passed without action from the University. Lazerson formed the Committee last fall to address the University's relationship with the Defense Department and to examine alternatives to the current ROTC arrangement. Communications Professor Larry Gross, who introduced the original Council resolution, characterized the Committee's recommendations as a "half-hearted solution." "It is an arm's length compromise on what should be a clear-cut issue and on which this body spoke unanimously a few years ago," he said. "[Reaching a solution] has taken too long."

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