Let me tell you the story of a student with a financial problem.After one semester at Tufts, this student had no more money forcollege, her parents would not co-sign loans (her major of choicewould never bring in enough money to pay them off), and theuniversity declared that her parents made too much money to provideher with financial aid or even work study. Searching for a solutionother than transferring to a cheaper school, and wondering whereher parents had hidden all this money the university was talkingabout; the student came upon the ROTC scholarship program. It wasthe only program she encountered that provided her with enoughmoney to remain at Tufts, so she signed up.
This student never imagined how much work ROTC would be, and thestrain it would place on the other studies and activities she hadplanned for her second semester. In fact, life became incrediblystressful for this student. She was constantly exhausted, hergrades began to slip, and she had obligations to everybody.Frustrated, she went to one professor's office hours to ask forhelp. After explaining her situation and asking for some extrahelp, the professor explained that the policy of the department didnot include help for those who were struggling due toextracurricular choices they had made. Choices? Extracurricular?These were words the na�ve freshman had a hard timeassociating with her participation in ROTC. She just wanted to stayin school, get a job, and above all, show her parents she couldsucceed.
Since that day, the young freshman has grown a lot. She haslearned how to better balance her course load, ROTC commitment, andextracurricular activities. The cadet has learned leadership skillswithin the ROTC program that have expanded her value to the campusgroups she participates in. She has also learned a lot about theresources available that may have helped had she been aware ofthem. She associates the word "choice" with ROTC, butextracurricular still has a hard time sticking.
Now why should you care about this cadet's story? You shouldcare because Matt Pohl wrote a viewpoint, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"(4/8/04) about why this cadet should not receive credit, which waspartially based on misleading and incorrect information.
Firstly, the ROTC "scholarship" is a loan granted by the serviceto which that cadet or midshipman has committed up to ten years ofservice in some form, active or reserve. It is not a Tuftsscholarship or loan program, because it is not originally Tufts'money. That is important because the non-discrimination policystates, "It is the policy of the University not to discriminate onthe basis of sexual orientation ... in the administration of its[Tufts'] scholarship and loan programs ..."
Tufts is not discriminating in its scholarship and loan programsby accepting money and/or credit from ROTC's program. Additionally,Tufts is not granting ROTC cadets or midshipmen anything for freethat others must pay for, since cadets must pay for the"scholarship" with service time. If a cadet does not complete thatservice time for whatever reason, the "scholarship" must be repaidin full.
With respect to an individual's ability to take ROTC courses,one may take them without being contracted (the ROTC term for "onscholarship"). This is encouraged by the MIT unit's professors ofmilitary science. They specifically refer students who are lookingfor courses in leadership to the Sloan School's Management andLeadership course that Cadet Taylor has been denied credit for. Infact, theoretically, if credit were granted credit for ROTCcourses, it would be granted to cadets and midshipmen regardless ofwhether or not they were on scholarship.
This means that LGBT individuals taking the classes withoutcommitment to the military (due to their being "out") could stillreceive credit. Furthermore, some of the classes that cadets andmidshipman take are MIT courses that would normally transfer, butdo not because the cadet or midshipman took the class to fulfill anROTC commitment. These classes affect cadets and midshipman to thesame degree or more than adding another Tufts class to theirschedule, as in the story above, yet they do not appear on thestudent's transcript. They are not treated as extracurricularactivities by the students involved because they demand reading andstudying like any other class with additional weight on thestudent's future career.
On top of their military training, Tufts cadets and midshipmenare exposed to Tufts' ideas and ideals. This means that they havetaken classes, heard speakers and participated in workshops builtaround Tufts' non-discrimination policy. This means they have beeneducated about issues such as those facing the LGBT community, andthey take that education with them when they go into the armedservices. One of those Tufts cadets or midshipman could be the onewho makes a big difference for the LGBT community through his orher service to America, but right now those cadets and midshipmando not have that power.
Instead, cadets and midshipman who cannot handle taking theequivalent of one or two more classes a semester are forced to dropout of the program, and are deterred from helping to make thatdifference. Tufts cadets want to serve their nation and defend theconstitution that makes America and the way we live possible. IfTufts is really interested in active citizens, it should supportits cadets and midshipmen for what they do now and what they can doin the future.
Michelle Engelson is a junior majoring inArchaeology.
