Hillsdale College and Harvard University are similar in that both oppose the "don't ask, don't tell" policy of the U.S. military toward gays who serve. Both refuse to allow ROTC programs on campus. Harvard, however, will permit military recruiters on campus because the Solomon Amendment requires it as a condition of continued government funding which makes up 15% of Harvard's operating budget. It is here that Hillsdale differs from Harvard. Hillsdale does not have to allow recruiters on campus because some time ago Hillsdale refused to accept government funding and the strings that come with it.
Oddly enough, Hillsdale welcomes U.S. military recruiters, while at Harvard the military is officially unwelcome. In spite of it, Harvard will graduate seven young men and women who will receive their commissions from General David Petraeus in a ceremony on Harvard Yard.
'On a campus where the military is officially unwelcome, that ceremony offers an interesting perspective on what the modern academy teaches us about living by our principles.
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The different reaction to federal funding also translates into different reactions to the uniform. Hillsdale's decision means it's free to tell the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines to go fly a kite. But that hasn't happened. To the contrary, during my visit I found two Marine recruiters happily sitting at a table in the new student union. And they were upbeat about both the number (four for 2009 alone) and quality of Marine officers they were getting.
"Hillsdale is the only college where every interaction I've had with school personnel has been positive and encouraging," says Capt. Elliott R. Peterson, one of those Marine recruiters. "Professors, deans and even the school president have gone out of their way to ensure I am being accommodated. And yet, Hillsdale is the only school in my area that does not have to allow me on campus."
Merely by attending tomorrow's commissioning ceremony, Harvard President Drew Faust will continue a tradition started a few years ago. That's progress from the days when Harvard presidents simply ignored the whole thing. Yet the ceremony highlights a disquieting contrast: between those young Harvard officers who will take an oath requiring adherence to principle even at the cost of their lives -- and leaders, such as those at their university, whose actions make clear their principles have a price.'
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