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The ROTC Task Force is charged with conducting the evaluation and forming the recommendations required by a 1990 Resolution of the MIT Faculty regarding ROTC and the Department of Defense policy governing homosexual orientation in the armed forces. Specifically, the 1990 Faculty Resolution indicates:
....that a task force be established by the President near the end of the five year period to evaluate progress and to recommend a future course of action, with the expectation that inadequate progress toward eliminating the DOD policy on sexual orientation will result in:
i) making ROTC unavailable to students beginning with the class entering in 1998
ii) giving notice of the impending termination in all appropriate MIT publications no later than the fall of 1996, should it be decided that ROTC is to be unavailable at MIT.
The role of the Task Force is to enable the faculty to establish an informed position regarding the future of MIT's relationship with ROTC and the access of MIT students to its programs. The charge to the Task Force is to assemble relevant information on the issue at hand in order to evaluate progress since 1990; to summarize and disseminate this information to the MIT community; to engage the community in an informed discussion of the issues; to frame these issues for the faculty; and to recommend a course of action.
The Task Force is requested to divide its work into three tasks, all of which should be completed by March, 1996.
1. Gathering of Information
In order to evaluate progress, the task Force will gather information about MIT's ROTC programs and the implementation of the 1993 DOD policy governing sexual orientation and conduct in the armed forces, and about prospects for future policy changes by the executive branch, the Congress, or the courts. This effort will include, but not be limited to:
* Data regarding MIT's ROTC programs such as enrollment, dismissals, financial aid, disciplinary actions, etc.
* Relevant actions on other campuses
* MIT's contractual agreements with the Federal Government regarding ROTC
* Summary of executive, legislative and judicial actions and prospects for future actions.
A compilation of this information will be made available to the MIT community through a number of media such as Tech Talk, The Tech, the Faculty Newsletter, and a home page on the World Wide Web.
2. Gathering of Community Input
The Task Force will solicit the input and feedback of the MIT community, including suggestions of possible actions that MIT might consider and their consequences. This will be accomplished through a variety of mechanisms such as an e-mail comment address, community meetings, and targeted forums. The Task Force should hold individual meetings with various groups or their representatives, such as the commanding officers of MIT's ROTC units, the Faculty Policy Committee, ROTC students, GAMIT, the Committee on Undergraduate Admissions and Financial Aid and various other student and faculty groups. All community input will be welcomed and reviewed by the Task Force as it organizes its findings.
3. Presentation of Final Report
Based on the review of the findings from the sources described above, the Task Force will prepare its final report. The Task Force should present its report to the Faculty at the March 1996 Faculty Meeting.
Thank you again for undertaking this important task.
Charles M. Vest
President of MIT
Send comments to rotc-comment@mit.edu. Although we cannot reply to all who write to us, we do promise to read every letter.