Provost strives for ROTC resolution

Five years after the University began exploring a new relationship with its Army and Navy ROTC programs, negotiations with the Pentagon are nearing completion, according to Provost Stanley Chodorow. University Council has voted that the Pentagon's restrictions on homosexual behavior are in conflict with the University's non-discrimination policy. Chodorow said the U.S. Department of Defense is currently considering some internal revisions to the Reserve Officers' Training Corps' programs' relationships with colleges and universities, and that the University's negotiations are helping to settle some issues of concern within the Pentagon. He added that he expects "to be at the point of decision fairly soon." But he refused to provide specific details about the final resolution reached between the University and the Pentagon. The current deliberations are the latest in a long series of attempts by the University to change the way it interacts with the Defense Department in light of the military's policies toward homosexuals. Openly homosexual citizens are barred from the Armed Forces, and therefore also from ROTC. But the Pentagon no longer requires military personnel to disclose their sexual orientation, under a policy known as "don't ask, don't tell." In 1990, Council called for the University to sever all ties with ROTC by 1993. The Faculty Senate passed a similar resolution in 1991. But then-University President Sheldon Hackney never followed these recommendations. In 1994, acting on the report of the Committee to Review the Status of ROTC at Penn, Council adopted a resolution calling for the University to pursue an "arms-length" agreement with the Pentagon. Former Interim Provost Marvin Lazerson, who chaired the committee, said in 1994 that such an arrangement would mean students would receive no credit for ROTC courses and the University would no longer provide funds or office space for ROTC instructors and staff. Currently, ROTC participants earn credit for their military coursework and ROTC teachers are considered professors at the University. Chodorow said he has been considering several options for ROTC. Possibilities discussed in the past include a regional ROTC program for colleges and universities in the Delaware Valley or withdrawing financial support and official recognition from the program at the University while continuing to allow students to participate in it. But Council's resolution specified that simply severing ties with ROTC is not an acceptable option. Chodorow said the current negotiations are going well but the bureaucracy of the Defense Department has held up progress. "The Pentagon does not move quickly on such matters, and the officials there cannot be expected to jump at a new model," he said. "The services are naturally cautious about change." Lt. Col. Theodore Majer, director of the University's Army ROTC program, said he has not been involved in negotiations on a new arrangement. He said he does not know when the discussions will be concluded. And students in ROTC said they are also waiting for information from the Pentagon or the University administration. Engineering senior Brian Holland, a cadet in the Army ROTC program, said he has not heard an update on the situation since the beginning of the semester. He added that the University's attempt to distance itself from ROTC does not bother him. "I don't have too much of a strong feeling, and I understand the [University's] point," he said. "But I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the program, and I'm glad I've been able to do it."