In ROTC Address, Faust Quietly Criticizes 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'

University President Drew G. Faust softly criticized the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy at the ROTC commissioning ceremony today, saying in her speech that all Harvard students should be allowed to serve in the military while declining to directly criticize the military's ban on openly-gay servicemembers.

"I wish that there were more of you," Faust said to the five cadets and about 100 spectators on the steps of Memorial Church, in what amounted to the closest mention or condemnation of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. "I believe that every Harvard student should have the opportunity to serve in the military, as you do, and as those honored in the past have done."

The controversial "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, which is the basis for much of the opposition to ROTC at Harvard, bars openly gay individuals from serving in the armed forces.

In the weeks leading up to the speech, Faust had drawn fire for her plans to criticize the policy from conservative and pro-military groups, including in a Wall Street Journal op-ed last month.

But because Faust mentioned neither the name of the policy nor the class of individuals it excludes from service, her criticism of the policy was left unheard to some audience members.

Jason M. Scherer ’08, one of the five students honored in the ceremony, said he thought Faust’s remarks struck an appropriate balance, and that some attendees likely did not understand her references to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

“Some people did get it, but not everyone,” he said. “I think she said it in a way that was respectful to everyone in attendance.”

Faust's approach to the issue of the military's presence on campus reflects a more measured approach than that of her predecessor, former University President Lawrence H. Summers.

While Summers was more outspoken than Faust in calling for an increased role of the military on campus, saying that "degree of cleavage between the military and the academy is very detrimental for both," he also criticized "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in the harshest of terms, calling it "offensive to human dignity and to principles of nondiscrimination."

At the commissioning ceremony, Faust addressed the issue of access to the military by highlighting the importance of service as a symbol of citizenship.

“The military served as a foundation for citizenship and a pathway to full participation in American life,” she said, citing the importance of military service to black Americans and women in their struggles for equality.

But the copious mentions of Harvard’s centuries-old commitment to military service—from George Washington’s Continental Army to the “Harvard Regiment” of the Civil War—often made the University’s commitment to the military seem more historical than contemporary.

The Class of 1958 had over 150 in their ROTC class, according to Tad J. Oelstrom, a speaker at the event. By contrast, this year’s class had five, a number in keeping with recent classes.

Oelstrom, a retired lieutenant general who now directs National Security Programs at the Kennedy School, and the other speakers did not reference either “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” or Faust’s oblique references to it. Instead, the attention was on the new officers—and keeping dry from the pouring rain.

“For those of you who think you’re getting cheated because you’re the only person to have rain during your commissioning ceremony, it’s almost typical,” Oelstrom said, “We can almost guarantee rain on this day at Harvard.”

—Staff writer Paras D. Bhayani contributed to the reporting of this story.

—Staff writer Clifford M. Marks can be reached at cmarks@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Nathan C. Strauss can be reached at strauss@fas.harvard.edu.