Clinton may end U. ROTC debate

If Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton is elected president today, he may put an end to the campus debate over ROTC by allowing homosexuals to serve in the military. According to a campaign statement, "Clinton will issue executive orders to repeal the ban on gays and lesbians from military or foreign service and to prohibit discrimination in federal employment, federal contracts and government services." Clinton promises to "stop discrimination against gays and lesbians at all levels of government," the statement reads. If Clinton keeps his promise to homosexuals, University President Sheldon Hackney will not have to decide whether or not to kick the Reserve Officer Training Corps off campus for violating the University's non-discrimination policy. The past few years' debate over the presence of ROTC on campus has come to a standstill while the University awaits Hackney's decision. The president has said he wants to lobby the federal government to change the policy before kicking the Naval and Army ROTC units off campus. University Council -- the president's advisory body -- suggested that Hackney give the military until June 1993 to change its policy before removing the units. "[Hackney] was waiting for one of three possible avenues to change the policy [prohibiting letting gays and lesbians into the military]," said University Council Undergraduate Representative and College senior Jeff Lichtman. One avenue could be today's presidential election, Lichtman said. Assistant to the president Nicholas Constan said yesterday that Hackney has made no decision on the ROTC issue. He said if Clinton is elected, Hackney will make his decision accordingly. "It's a policy that needs to be changed," Lichtman said. "We do not have any qualms with ROTC," said Lesbian Gay Bisexual Alliance Co-chairperson and Wharton senior Jason Walthall. "Our problem is that they systematically exclude gays and lesbians from their program." Walthall said that if Clinton becomes president and if the executive orders are put into action, he will support ROTC and hopes that the distribution of its scholarships will be fair. "I think it's a great program," Walthall said. Lichtman said that the policy is more likely to change with Clinton as president than with anyone else. "I think it will be very difficult to to make the claim that the policy will be changed if Bush wins," Lichtman said. "Who knows what George Bush will be doing if he wins?"

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