Veteran’s Place in Time

To the editors:

During Harvard’s Veterans Day celebration on Wed., Nov. 11, President Drew Gilpin Faust embarrassed herself and the university. At this ceremony a new plaque in the memorial chapel was unveiled that honors Harvard’s 12 Medal of Honor recipients. There were representatives from the families of all 12 recipients, including Susan Roosevelt Weld, the great-granddaughter and granddaughter of Medal of Honor recipients President Theodore Roosevelt (Class of 1880) and his son, Gen. Theodore Roosevelt II (Class of 1909).

President Faust was invited to speak in front of this large crowd of distinguished guests. However, rather than first thanking the Veterans and their families, she instead began her speech by lamenting the fact that none of Harvard’s Medal of Honor recipients were women. Finally, she emphatically stated that “I look forward to the day when Harvard’s daughters are honored on this plaque as well.”

Does she know that 60 percent of all Medals of Honor awarded since WWII have been given posthumously? Does she therefore look forward to seeing Harvard’s daughters killed on the battlefield? Why did President Faust not also bemoan the fact that there are no black or Native American Medal of Honor recipients from Harvard? In fact, President Faust could take an active role to encourage more women to join the military and earn this award if she would allow ROTC back on Harvard’s campus.

There is an appropriate time to try and advance your political and social platforms. This was not it. Ironically, she chose to push her agenda at a service dedicated to the very people who defend her right to free speech. In a chapel full of distinguished visitors, President Faust embarrassed herself, Harvard University, and the agenda she was trying to promote.

David Dixon

Cambridge, Mass.

November 17, 2009

David Dixon is a veteran of the Iraq War and a masters student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.