U. will not get Defense funds if ROTC cut

Any cuts could have a 'significant' impact on IAST New legislation passed by Congress restricts universities from receiving Department of Defense funding if they do not allow Reserve Officers Training Corps units to stay on campus. The Campus Access Act -- signed by President Clinton in February -- is expected to have no effect on the University, according to Nancy Nowicki, external affairs assistant for Provost Stanley Chodorow. "The University is not undertaking any unilateral action, which is what the Act addresses," Nowicki said. Currently, the University is in negotiations with the Pentagon to redefine its relationship with ROTC since Penn's non-discrimination policy conflicts with the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding homosexuals. "Since the University clearly does not have an 'anti-ROTC' policy, the act itself does not apply to Penn's current relations with the DOD," Nowicki said. The Navy ROTC has already informed administrators that it will not reform its program to conform to University policy. A decision from the Army ROTC is anticipated by the end of this month, Chodorow said at a University Council meeting earlier this year. "The ongoing negotiations with the military have been conducted -- on the advice of the University Council -- in a cooperative spirit, in the hopes of forging a new relationship agreed to by all parties," Nowicki said. Federal grants are a significant contribution to the budget of the Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. The Air Force has pledged $27.5 million dollars, according to Vice President for Finance Steven Golding. "If we were to deny access to ROTC and that was perceived to be in violation of that act, then that could have a significant impact on the IAST proposal," Goldberg said. However, the University has already received part of the federal grant for IAST, he added. The total cost of the IAST project is approximately $80 million, with federal money funding 30 percent. In fiscal year 1995, the University received more than $18 million in research funds from DOD. "We got additional funding this year for the IAST research and equipment expenses," Research Administration Assistant Director for Operations Stuart Watson said. "On average, though, in the past four or five years, we've been sitting around $12 to 13 million." But the DOD funds only account for six percent of the $322 million in research grants the University took in last year, he added. "It's not going to make or break us if we lost grants from the Department of Defense," Watson said. ROTC officers declined to comment on the ongoing negotiations and the effect of the new law.