While most of their fellow Jumbos are still asleep, Tufts' Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) students are on their way to MIT for one of several weekly classes. These students enroll in one additional class per semester, but their Tufts transcripts show no sign of it.
Under current university policy, Tufts' 25 ROTC students do not receive credit for their ROTC classes. Though they commit to the program by choice, many of these students feel they should receive credit for the classes they take
James Glaser, Dean of Undergraduate Education, said that this policy has been in effect since the 1970's. "It is a longstanding university policy not to offer ROTC credits," he said.
Tufts' ROTC battalion also includes students from MIT and Harvard. Since MIT houses the actual ROTC unit, both Tufts and Harvard students enroll in classes at MIT.
"After the first two introductory classes, the classes are like engineering, leadership, and management," said Stephen Graham, a sophomore in the ROTC program.
"No one receives credit for the first two classes, but the other ones, everyone receives credit except for Tufts students," he said.
Graham emphasized the heavy course load as proof of the courses' legitimacy. "They have homework, they meet twice a week, etc."
"The hardest class I'm taking right now is my ROTC class," senior Matt Colehour said.
Colehour, an ROTC student who played a major role in the battle against these policies, said that "there are 61 [ROTC] units in the country and about 120-150 schools that are involved with ROTC. To my knowledge, Tufts is the only school that does not give any credit for ROTC classes."
According to Glaser, ROTC students' inability to receive credit is mostly due to Tufts' policies of cross-registration, a system in which classes taken at another university can automatically be transferred for Tufts credit. Tufts does not have a system of cross-registration with MIT.
"Whether its calculus or swimming, you can't take classes at MIT and transfer them back to Tufts," said Glaser.
Nevertheless, Colehour attempted to bypass the cross-registration obstacle by applying for a transfer of credit for a leadership class he completed at MIT which he says was half "civilian" and even has a Tufts equivalent.
"I submitted a transfer request to the Entrepreneurial Leadership [Program] for a leadership course through the MIT grad department," he said. "They approved the syllabus, but the credit never showed up on my transcript."
Colehour said he received an email in response to his request explaining that Tufts does not give credit for any class taken for ROTC credit.
According to Jeanne Dillon, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education, transfers of credit without cross-registration is possible. "If you go someplace else then you have to pay for it and then have it transferred into your undergraduate degree," she said. "It's pretty rare, but occasionally people will do that."
Despite the University's apparent reluctance to give credit for ROTC classes, it is unclear to what extent students from other schools receive credit. For students at Harvard and MIT, it seems that the amount of credit earned for ROTC classes varies.
Pat Morrissey, a senior ROTC student at Harvard, said he received credit for "select classes."
"Three or four of my classes actually counted as cross-registration at MIT," he said.
According to Sergeant Raymond Nunweiler, the liaison officer that interfaces with the cadets at Tufts, "It varies from college to college because the campuses for the most part are private. Then, it is their call."
Tufts does have a cross-registration program with Boston University (BU), which also houses an ROTC unit. Tufts students have recently been granted permission to receive credit for one ROTC course offered there.
Colehour, however, referred to the BU course as a "loophole;" a small compensation for a much larger problem. Many of the ROTC students perceive the administration's refusal to grant ROTC credits as running deeper than simply logistics.
Tufts housed its own ROTC unit until 1972, when protest against the Vietnam War prompted the Trustees to disband the program.
Many of Tufts' ROTC students blame the faculty for the school's relationship with the program.
Glaser admits that while the University respects and deeply appreciates the work of the U.S. Army, there are faculty members who do not agree with some of its policies.
"The faculty has voted over the years and voted a long time ago [regarding] these policies. I implement these policies, and I can't overrule the faculty," Glaser said.
The most recent contentions surround the army's "Don't ask don't tell" policy regarding homosexuality, which many at the University view as discriminatory.
The Tufts Bulletin reveals the University's stance on this issue. Approximately half of the paragraph entitled "ROTC Programs" decries the policy.
It also says, "Students who are considering whether to participate in ROTC are advised to become aware of these limitations and potential consequences, which may include, among other possibly consequences, the loss of scholarships."
Colehour views this as an attempt to cover up a more arbitrary bias. "'Don't ask don't tell' didn't come about till the 90s," he said. "What about all that time between then and the Vietnam war?"
Ellie Short, Coordinator for the Advocates for Tufts ROTC, a group which represents the alumni who want to promote ROTC, said that if an anti-army bias exists at the University, it is "more a bias within the faculty than the administration."
"My feeling is strongly that if there is a possibility of allowing credits for very fine courses given by outstanding professors, it's an opportunity, and I think the faculty should take advantage of it," she said.
Colehour, one of the few students to attempt to change the University's policies, said that even he has abandoned the cause.
"It's a dead horse now," he said. "The problem is that freshmen and sophomores don't know enough about it, and by the time you're a junior or senior you don't really care because it doesn't affect you anymore."
Colehour said that the farthest he ever got within the administration hierarchy was Glaser. "I was never able to get the issue approved for a faculty vote," he said. "The administration will never
recognize it as an issue they need to discuss."
In terms of establishing a cross-registration program with MIT, Glaser said that a change of that magnitude "would require much more than I could do."
According to Glaser, however, "Very few complaints are received each year regarding this since most students are fully aware before committing themselves to ROTC that credit isn't transferable."
Many of the students, however, disagree.
"When you sign up for the program, it's like senior year in high school. You apply for the scholarship then for your school, and then your scholarship is applied to whichever school," said Graham. "I knew I had to take classes, but I didn't know what that actually entailed."
Glaser feels that the University shows support for the program in places other than the transcript, namely with financial aid.
"We do allow students to have ROTC scholarships to pay for their Tufts education," he said. "A faculty committee and vote confirmed that maybe 10 or 15 years ago."
"Tufts fully recognizes ROTC and the students who participate in it," Glaser said. "Each year we hold a ceremony honoring the ROTC graduates headed by President Bacow. I myself attend the ceremony, and I will add, on behalf of everyone in Tufts, we are extremely happy and proud of what [the ROTC students] are doing."
Although the "wheels of academia move slowly," Short said, "I do think that we're moving forward."
"We are more aware of the need for acceptance of credit and more understanding that there should be some cross registration now between the colleges and universities that operate within the ROTC program," she said.
