To the Editor:
Now that the Trustees have given their approval to retaining the Reserve Officers' Training Corps program on this campus, it is my sincere desire to restore a balanced relationship with the Dartmouth community, and especially with the Dartmouth Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Organization and those faculty members who voted to oust the program.
Army ROTC has throughout its short recent history at the College (it had only returned to the campus in 1985) endeavored to maintain a low profile at Dartmouth. We are neither adversarial nor get in anyone's way. In fact, this is the first response that we have given to the entire controversy surrounding the fate of our small program.
As individuals, we do not discriminate against anyone. As a program that must follow the directives of the Department of Defense, we follow the "don't ask, don't tell" policy in allowing cadets to join the program. In other words, anyone who is capable can join ROTC, so long as they do not state their sexual preferences.
But no one in the program discusses their sexuality; I don't usually tell people that I'm straight, and I would likewise take offence if anyone asked me this question as part of a job application. When you're on duty, any sexual activity - straight or gay - is cause for dismissal from the army. What you do in the privacy of your home, however, is not a concern of the military.
The professors who condemn ROTC for the sake of taking a "moral stand" on the issue are potentially affecting the livelihood and career of students who, in all likelihood, do not support the ban on gays in the military. The majority of Dartmouth students support ROTC, since it is a program that largely benefits students like themselves. When you ask for the program's removal from Dartmouth, you are actively hurting the students who will not be able to come to Dartmouth without an ROTC scholarship. Ultimately, however, it is the entire country that benefits from an educated and relatively liberal infusion into the Army's officer corps.
Finally, ROTC will continue to be a low-profile program on campus; we do not and will not get in anyone's way, and we do not want to maintain a hostile relationship with either the faculty or DaGLO; we are willing to do all that is within our powers to assuage their apprehension about ROTC. Eventually, I believe that the military will change its present policy on homosexuals, but until then, throwing our small program out will not serve in the best interests of the College, the students, the faculty or the nation as a whole.
MIKE PEVNER '93
ROTC Cadet Commander
