BOK AND ROTC

To the Editors of The Crimson:

Derek Bok's statement to CHUL last Thursday represents a further move towards the restoration of ROTC at Harvard. Bok has reaffirmed that, despite CHUL's efforts to bury its head in the sand, the return of ROTC is indeed an "issue," one being seriously considered by the administration.

Bok has once again managed to insult the faculty, accusing them of acting "under extreme pressure and in great haste" in abolishing ROTC. He is apparently unaware that the initial faculty decision on ROTC in 1969 was made two months before the building takeover and strike.

Bok has now stated that he believes students should be allowed to participate in ROTC as an "extracurricular activity." If he had taken the trouble to look up the law establishing ROTC (Title 10, Chapter 103, Section 2102), he would have found that the program must be adopted "as part of the curriculum," and that "the senior commissioned officer...(must be) given the academic rank of professor." He would have further found that the program must be "prescribed and controlled" by the military, while Harvard requires that extracurricular organizations "make all policy decisions without obligation to any parent organization" (Handbook of Undergraduate Regulations, 1973-4). We cannot help but wonder what his definition of an "extracurricular activity" is.

Bok's attempt to pass off his statements as "personal opinion" is ludicrous. He is not, after all, merely an ordinary member of the University; he is the official representative of the Harvard Corporation. if Nixon issued a statement saying China ought to be bombed, it is unlikely that the Chinese would find much reassurance in the explanation that it was just a "personal opinion."

The New American Movement intends to continue its opposition to the military at Harvard. We urge all Radcliffe and Harvard students to join us in our efforts to prevent the return of ROTC to campus. Steven Carlip '75   member, NAM