Tufts has been far ahead of other institutions in supporting the service of our Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) cadets. Harvard made big news a few weeks ago when it announced changes to its ROTC policy that merely brought it in line with what Tufts has been doing for years. For example, Tufts supports the program monetarily by paying for student attendance at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where the current program is taught. Tufts also hosts a commissioning ceremony for cadets and supports ceremonies on Veterans Day and other events that recognize the commitment of those who serve in uniform.
While Tufts strengthened its support for its ROTC cadets on Wednesday in a moderate way, it rejected a more meaningful proposal. The faculty considered two proposals that recognize the service and academic commitment of Tufts ROTC cadets in the wake of the repeal of the discriminatory Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. The first proposal placed ROTC participation at the end of a student's transcript in a section usually used to indicate internship participation or awards. This proposal passed but only by a vote of 41−29. Twenty−nine professors rejected this minor support. It passed with 59 percent of the vote. That would be an F in any of their classes.
The second proposal would have placed ROTC coursework beneath Tufts coursework each semester. ROTC cadets take courses at MIT — academic courses. The purpose of this second proposal was to place students' academic work at Tufts in context. A semester with five courses at Tufts is rigorous; a semester with five courses at Tufts and two courses at MIT is above and beyond. The proposal made clear that it did not involve academic credit, just merely listing MIT ROTC academic coursework. Unfortunately, this second proposal failed with only a few votes in favor.
The passage of the first proposal was momentous. But never before have I seen a debate that was less relevant to the proposals at hand. Some professors took this debate as an opportunity to voice their opinions on any sentiment regarding the military that crossed their minds. I'm glad I was the only student there (in my capacity as Tufts Community Union (TCU) president) because, frankly, it was embarrassing. Earlier this year the TCU Senate supported both proposals without a dissenting vote. In this case, the students showed leadership, but the faculty couldn't step outside of themselves. One professor went so far to say that there is no way he could be represented by a policy that allows a small ROTC notation on the transcript. But this policy isn't about him.
A group of professors signed onto a letter that argued against both proposals because, as one repeated in the Daily coverage, "[military service] is hardly public service as we usually know the meaning of public service." Their letter listed every concern imaginable, from military budgets to Iraq War policy to the Libyan intervention. The one thing it never addressed: student service.
Tufts students have gone into the military and offered extraordinary service. Capt. Benjamin Sklaver (LA '99, F '03), a Tufts alumnus, was killed only two years ago while trying to bring enhanced infrastructure and water wells to an Afghan village. Lt. Chris Ocasio (LA '09), another Tufts alumnus, is currently stationed in Kabul, commanding a platoon there to deliver supplies for children. More are getting ready to deploy in the next few months with the goal of restoring order and stability in the region. I imagine that this sort of humanitarian action would be applauded more unanimously, except that for some faculty, the image of a military uniform somehow negates it.
The military has its shortcomings. And we don't all agree on the nation's policy in Iraq, Afghanistan or Libya. But neither proposal considered by the faculty had anything to do with these issues. The proposals had to do with respecting the service of those who commit their lives to the decisions of our elected public officials. The debate made evident that many professors could not draw the distinction.
Tufts faculty took a solid step by passing the first proposal to place ROTC service on the transcript along with other honors and internships, though the vote was far too close. But they failed to meaningfully support ROTC cadets by placing their academic commitment to ROTC in the context of their Tufts coursework by approving the second proposal.
It is absurd that I need to even defend the service of my ROTC peers as "extraordinary public service." What's worse, 29 faculty members voted to exclude the ROTC service of their students even from the same section as a summer internship.
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