Chodorow, profs at odds over ROTC

Professors frustrated by slow action Provost Stanley Chodorow said Sunday that he will follow the advice of University Council and various committee reports in his negotiations with the United States Defense Department regarding the Reserve Officers Training Corps program. But several University professors who served on both the committees and Council said they are frustrated that Chodorow has not followed their September 1994 recommendation to implement an "arms-length" agreement with ROTC. In September 1994, a committee appointed by Interim Provost Marvin Lazerson recommended an agreement that would maintain ROTC presence on campus while withdrawing several benefits that the the University currently provides to the program. A unanimous Council resolution at that time recommended the Provost implement the committee's suggestion. But it also advised him not to sever the relationship with the Pentagon if such an agreement could not be reached. Chodorow's negotiations with the Navy have reached a stalemate, and he has not solicited an agreement with the Army's ROTC directors. "I have not regarded the effort as time-bound," he said. "It is the goal, not the time in which it is accomplished that has counted for me." Communications Professor Larry Gross, who has a seat on Council, criticized Chodorow several times for not reaching an agreement sooner. "An open-ended process doesn't ultimately achieve the goal," Gross said yesterday. "Unless a timetable is involved, [the goal] remains illusory." Gross also said several committees, in addition to Council, have repeatedly made it clear that they would not support an agreement that violates the University's principles. Ken Dean, associate dean and professor of the Graduate School of Education, was a member of a 1990 Faculty Senate committee that examined the ROTC issue. He said yesterday that something must be done to change the situation. "It gets frustrating to spend so much time on this and nothing gets accomplished," said Dean, who met with Chodorow in December to discuss the ROTC program. Chodorow said an arms-length agreement would require that the University charge ROTC rent for its office space, as well as withdraw its "modest" funding for the office's secretarial support and office supplies. Bob Schoenberg, director of the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Center, suggested that if Chodorow is unable to change the University's agreement with ROTC, he should consider removing the program from campus altogether. "It seems important to listen to Council when what Council is saying is constant with what he wants," he said. "It's hard to see how he's bringing the full force of his office to this negotiation." Gross also said Chodorow should reevaluate the University's relationship with ROTC. "The question needs to be posed as to not only what are the benefits, but what are the actual fiscal costs [of keeping ROTC on campus]," he said. Despite advice calling for a speedy resolution of this case, Chodorow said the complexity of the situation warrants restraint. "Our relationship with ROTC is a two-sided one that involves scholarship support for students and the University's relationship with the federal government," he said. "We have not acted unilaterally, but treated the matter as negotiation." Chodorow projected that the Army would reach a decision on whether to alter its agreement with the University by April of this year.