SDS Threatens ROTC Confrontation

SDS decided last night to confront the University--perhaps physically--with five demands attacking ROTC's presence on campus.

Members are planning a mass demonstration in front of Dean Ford's office at University Hall one week from today. If Ford refuses to come out, the demonstrators plan to enter his office and demand an immediate response to their ROTC demands.

Organizers of the campaign are also demanding to present their proposals in person at the next Faculty meeting on December 3. If not allowed to actually attend the meeting, "we will bust through physically and make ourselves known by our noise and numbers," Frederick R. Campion '70, a speaker at the meeting, said.

Campion said Hilary W. Putnam, professor of Philosophy, would present the SDS demands to the faculty meeting. But Putnam refused to confirm this report last night.

Leaders of SDS formulated their demands into a petition containing five points:

* Air Force, Army, and Navy ROTC be denied course credit.

* Corporation appointments for ROTC instructors be abolished.

* ROTC be denied the use of all Harvard facilities.

* ROTC training not be recognized in any from, including that of an extracurricular activity or of a department course.

* ROTC scholarships be replaced, where there is need, by commensurate Harvard scholarships.

SDS is not attacking ROTC on the argument--used by the HPC and the HUC--that it does not meet the high academic standards of Harvard, SDS member Alan Gilbert stressed. This is mere quibbling which hides the real issues, he said.

There is no right to join ROTC because ROTC provides junior officers to enforce America's policy which supresses popular revolutions, he said.

"If Murder Inc. came to the campus, they would not have the right to murder, because the right to murder does not exist. We say that ROTC simply does not have the right to exist."

SDS will present its proposal to abolish ROTC before the SFAC meeting today at 4 p.m. in the Winthrop House Junior Common Room.

"Supposedly SFAC is a concession won by the student movement after the Dow sit-in--but by discussing ROTC in terms of whether or not it should have academic credit, SFAC is really playing the Administration's ballgame, going along with the attempts to mislead the opposition to ROTC," the proposal said.