An Open Letter to Senator Scott Brown

Dear Senator Brown,
The Harvard Crimson today reported that you have begun a petition asking Harvard to allow ROTC, The Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, back on campus.  Your petition is misguided, Senator.  The only person who can bring ROTC back to Harvard is you.
Harvard University has a standing non-discrimination policy.  No group that discriminates on the basis of race, gender, or sexual orientation may receive the full support of the university.
The Reserve Officers’ Training Corps is one casualty of this policy.  The United States military does not allow openly gay men and women to serve, and since this is a clear violation of Harvard’s non-discriminatory policy, it cannot be allowed on campus.
Many critics, like professor Ruth R. Wisse, believe that Harvard’s objection about discrimination is merely a fig leaf hiding a deeper anti-military bias.  After all, ROTC was originally expelled from Harvard amidst anti-war riots in the late 1960s.  Gay rights were not at issue.
Perhaps twenty years ago, those critics would be correct.  Our university remains conflicted about its role as a feeder for a standing army that – according to some – fights and kills for our economic interests rather than for our freedom.  Many would prefer never to see a uniform on campus.
But those days are largely over.  Harvard students and faculty admire the young men and women who risk their lives to serve in the military.  We admire them, and we are thankful for their decision to travel to the other side of the globe to keep us safe at home.  Perhaps Harvard is facing the reality of a post-9/11 world, perhaps it is a simple cultural shift, but whatever the reason, the powerful anti-military sentiment that first banished ROTC from campus is gone.
ROTC is also a career opportunity, and as a university dedicated to opening doors for its students, Harvard recognizes the value of a military training program.  Kennedy School lecturer Tim McCarthy, a strong proponent of gay rights, explained to me that the military has always been a path to advancement for young, working-class families, whether through the GI Bill or ROTC scholarships.
Because military service is honorable, and because military service can be a pathway to a successful career, ROTC should be accessible to everyone, and it should be supported on Harvard’s campus.  Your own words say it best: “All students wishing to serve in ROTC should be allowed to exercise their service on the campus of Harvard.”
But Senator Brown, if you are so deeply committed to allowing “all students” the opportunity to serve, why, on September 21st, did you vote against a repeal of the military’s discriminatory policy?  The Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy systematically excludes thousands of American citizens from serving honorably and reaping the just rewards of that dedicated service.  If you truly believe that we “should embrace young people who want to serve their country at a time of war,” your vote should have been an easy decision.  You should have embraced the young people who want to serve their country at a time of war!  But instead of voting for repeal, you joined a minority filibuster and shot down a hundred thousand patriotic dreams.
You can say what you want about partisan Senate procedure and politicking during an election season.  We’re not too happy about the state of the Senate either, Senator, but at the end of the day, if your procedural objections outweigh your commitment to military service, then you are the one with your “priorities upside down,” not Harvard.  As Representative Anthony Weiner of New York said, “You vote in favor of something if you believe it’s the right thing,” and procedure be damned.
You could also pretend, like those who opposed racial desegregation of the armed forces in the 1940s, that allowing gays and lesbians to serve their country would damage military morale and effectiveness.  That argument is as morally bankrupt today as it was in 1945.
Harvard will allow ROTC back on campus when the military’s discriminatory policy is repealed.  We do regret the current absence of ROTC, but our commitment to equality – perhaps the most fundamental of American ideals – cannot be compromised.
Senator Brown, it’s up to you.  If you truly believe that ROTC should be open to “all students,” then vote that way.  Go back to Washington, fix the broken Senate, and repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.  In the meantime, don’t go lecturing Harvard that “all students” deserve the opportunity to enlist in ROTC.  We already know that, thank you very much, and we’ve been fighting for those students for decades.
Sincerely,
Allan Bradley, Harvard Class of 2011