Affiliations

To the Editors of The Crimson:

If Dean Jewett, acting on behalf of the administration, is instigating the return of ROTC, does that mean that we will soon begin efforts to conjoin Harvard with other outside institutions? If the U.S. Armed Forces are going to be teaching courses, marching and saluting around the Yard, and giving orders in exchange for the honor and money the partnership will bring to Harvard, then I would like to recommend some other institutions Harvard might join with to create new student opportunities.

We are told by concerned activists that ROTC scholarships enable impoverished students to attend Harvard that would not otherwise be able to. So let's go where the rest of the money is: court the investment bankers. I envision a Drexel-Burnham Training Corps, made up of "students," faculty and outside administrators.

I'm sure the University community would benefit from the unique perspectives and viewpoints expressed by the DBTC members. The sight of students in dark-suit uniform lock-stepping to their own faculty would make me proud to be sharing in the famed Harvard diversity, as we seek our individual callings.

And why stop at the corporate world (i.e. the Union Carbide Professor of Risk Economics!)? In my dream Harvard, any group willing to foot the bill should be made part of the University. I can see it now: Israeli Occupation Forces credit on one classmate's transcript, Filene's store manager training on another and the valedictorian graduating summa cum laude in Somerville Police Studies.

If the Harvard administration can make this dream come true, then maybe all the activists won't have any hypocrisy to complain about. Nathaniel Wice '89