Murphy’s Disdain for the Military
AGAINST MILITARY VALUES
Scott Murphy co-authored an editorial which said the military discriminated on the basis of sexual preference, gender and race
- In a May 1989 Perspective editorial, Scott Murphy co-wrote, “Beyond the issue of homosexual rights, however, there exist [sic] a number of reasons why we still strongly oppose the reinstatement of ROTC on the Harvard-Radcliffe campus.
“The military not only discriminates on the basis of sexual preference but also on the basis of sex and race. Women are not allowed to serve in combat roles even if they are physically superior to males who do serve in combat. And, while there are not explicit rules discriminating against minorities, the Congressional Black Caucus has found that ‘racism has become institutionalized at all levels of the military….Black and other minority service men are victims of discrimination from the time that they enter the services until the time that they are discharged.’ Will Harvard choose to ignore this discrimination?”[1] (Ellipsis in original)
Murphy also wrote that the values enforced by the military were contrary to Harvard’s values
- The May 1989 Perspective editorial also said, “The values enforced by the military – submission to authority, unquestioning obedience, and a hierarchy of power – are contrary to the University’s values of independence, thoughtful inquiry, and equality for all.”[2]
- Murphy further asserted that, “We, as editors of Perspective, firmly believe all people should have the right to choose whether or not to be in the military, but we believe a university must not sanction a philosophy that is founded on an unquestioning submission to authority.”[3]
Scott Murphy objected to courses sponsored by Harvard and taught by military personnel
- In a May 1989 Perspective editorial, Scott Murphy wrote, “We do not object to there being courses taught about the military by Harvard professors in the Government or History Departments. We do object to courses sponsored by Harvard and taught by military personnel.” [4]
Murphy said Harvard should not increase its ties to the nation’s military
- In a May 1989 Perspective editorial, Scott Murphy wrote, “Harvard should not increase its ties to the nation’s military. The military is an important mechanism by which the US projects its power around the world. The name of Harvard University should not be used blindly to promote every aspect of US military activity world-wide.” [5]
Murphy on ROTC (RESERVE OFFICERS TRAINING CORPS) at Harvard
While at Harvard, Murphy applauded a group’s decision to declare unconstitutional a resolution supporting the ROTC on the Harvard-Radcliffe campus
- In a May 1989 editorial in Perspective, Scott Murphy wrote, “We, as editors of Perspective, applaud the decision of the Undergraduate Council [to declare unconstitutional a resolution declaring that Harvard should have an ROTC program without academic credit on campus and calling on Harvard’s administration and the U.S. Military to reinstitute the program on campus].”[6]
In 1989, Murphy advocated for more university and federal scholarships in lieu of ROTC
- In a May 1989 editorial in Perspective, Scott Murphy wrote, “Students should not have to choose between ROTC and not going to college. Bringing ROTC on campus is not the best way of helping the economically disadvantaged. Rather, the way to attack the problem of unaffordable college education is through increased university and federal scholarships so that low income students can go to college without being forced to join the military.”[7]
In 1996, the Solomon Amendment became law, denying certain federal funding to universities that barred military recruiters and ROTC from operating on their campuses
- In a Nov. 26, 2007, article, The Oracle reported, “In response to the banning of ROTC at various schools, the federal government passed the Solomon Amendment in 1996, which penalized private schools that prevent the ROTC or military recruiters from operating on their campuses. The amendment makes said schools ineligible for grants and contracts from Department of Defense, Department of Education and other federal departments and agencies.[8]
- In an Oct. 16, 2007, Human Events article, “For those not familiar with Solomon, the latest version of the law, named for now-deceased Rep. Jerry Solomon (R.-N.Y.), mandates all federal funding, save that for student loans, must be denied to universities that prevent the Department of Defense, by policy or practice, from establishing and maintaining ROTC units on campus or that fail to provide recruiters from the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security accommodations as they would other employers visiting campus.”[9]
Editor’s note: Scott Murphy is running for the 20th Congressional district of New York (prior to the 2002 redistricting, it had been the 22nd Congressional district) which was vacated by Kirsten Gillibrand. Gillibrand defeated Republican John Sweeney in the 2006 election. Sweeney was first elected to Congress in 1998, winning the seat vacated by Republican Congressman Gerald Solomon who had retired. Accordingly, Murphy is running for seat once held by Congressman Solomon.[10][11][12]
President Obama supports offering ROTC at any university
- In an Oct. 22, 2008, article, the Harvard Crimson reported, “‘I recognize that there are students here who have differences in terms of military policy,’ Obama said at the Columbia forum. ‘But the notion that young people here at Columbia or anywhere, in any university, aren’t offered the choice, the option of participating in military service, I think is a mistake.’”[13]
MURPHY, PERSPECTIVE, BACQUE AND EISENHOWER
In April 1991, while Scott Murphy was president, Perspective sponsored a lecture by an author who alleged that General Eisenhower and De Gaulle were responsible for the mistreatment and deaths of hundreds of thousands of German POWs following World War II
- In a June 1991 article, Perspective said, “On Monday, April 29, Perspective sponsored a speech by James Bacque. His lecture, entitled ‘Other Losses: Eisenhower, De Gaulle, and the Mass Deaths of German Soldiers,’ alleged that at the the [sic] of World War II the allied high command, primarily the French and Americans, instituted a deliberate policy of mistreatment, killing over 500,000 German prisoners.”[14]
Murphy attended the lecture and later wrote that it shook his faith in believing that powerful people do not abuse their power
- In a June 1991, article in Perspective, Scott Murphy wrote, “I grew up in Missouri, a state whose skepticism is typified by its much-maligned state slogan, ‘The show me state.’ I absorbed much of this attitude while growing up, but since coming to Harvard, this skepticism has been subsumed by my hopeful liberal/leftist world view. While many of my friends accept on faith that discrimination is pervasive, that neoclassical economics are ridiculous, and that powerful people abuse their power, I don’t. This last assumption is a particular sore spot of mine – I want to believe that Watergate and the Iran/Contra affair are anomalies. But three recent events have shaken my faith.”[15]
- The article continued, “Two weeks later I went to hear James Bacque speak about his new book, Other Losses, a recounting of the treatment of disarmed German personnel in US camps after WWII. Eisenhower ordered that German prisoners not be declared official ‘prisoners of war.’ As a result, the US did not have to follow the Geneva Accords, and Switzerland was not allowed to check on camp conditions. Eisenhower also repeatedly reduced the prisoners’ rations. Bacque claims that between April and September of 1945 more than 500,000 prisoners died in US camps in France and Germany, primarily from deprivation of food, shelter, water, and medicine. In fact, more Germans died in the camps than died on the Western front between June 1941 and April 1945.”[16]
However, two months prior to the lecture, historian Stephen E. Ambrose of the Eisenhower Institute at the University of New Orleans reviewed Bacque’s book in the New York Times, concluding that Bacque was wrong on every major charge and nearly all his minor ones
- “Our second conclusion was that when scholars do the necessary research, they will find Mr. Bacque's work to be worse than worthless. It is seriously -- nay, spectacularly -- flawed in its most fundamental aspects. Mr. Bacque misuses documents; he misreads documents; he ignores contrary evidence; his statistical methodology is hopelessly compromised; he makes no attempt to see the evidence he has gathered in its relationship to the broader situation; he makes no attempt to look at comparative contexts; he puts words into the mouth of his principal source; he ignores a readily available and absolutely critical source that decisively deals with his central accusation; and, as a consequence of these and other shortcomings, he reaches conclusions and makes charges that are demonstrably absurd.”
- The article also said, “In short, Mr. Bacque is wrong on every major charge and nearly all his minor ones. Eisenhower was not a Hitler, he did not run death camps, German prisoners did not die by the hundreds of thousands, there was a severe food shortage in 1945, there was nothing sinister or secret about the ‘disarmed enemy forces’ designation or about the column ‘other losses.’ Mr. Bacque's ‘missing million’ were old men and young boys in the militia.”[17]
Editor’s Note: Stephen E. Ambrose was the director of the Eisenhower Institute at the University of New Orleans and was the biographer of Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Footnotes
- [1]
- Scott Murphy, Mike Rawson, Jeanne Theoharis Editorial, Perspective, Summer 1989 [PDF]
- [2]
- Scott Murphy, Mike Rawson, Jeanne Theoharis Editorial, Perspective, Summer 1989 [PDF]
- [3]
- Scott Murphy, Mike Rawson, Jeanne Theoharis Editorial, Perspective, Summer 1989 [PDF]
- [4]
- Scott Murphy, Mike Rawson, Jeanne Theoharis Editorial, Perspective, Summer 1989 [PDF]
- [5]
- Scott Murphy, Mike Rawson, Jeanne Theoharis Editorial, Perspective, Summer 1989 [PDF]
- [6]
- Scott Murphy, Mike Rawson, Jeanne Theoharis Editorial, Perspective, Summer 1989 [PDF]
- [7]
- Scott Murphy, Mike Rawson, Jeanne Theoharis Editorial, Perspective, Summer 1989 [PDF]
- [8]
- Christine Gibson, “New building puts spotlight back on ROTC controversy at U. South Florida”, The Oracle, Nov. 26, 2007 [PDF]
- [9]
- Flagg K. Youngblood, “Solomon Amendment Defied”, Human Events, Oct. 16, 2007 [PDF]
- [10]
- Kenneth C. Crowe, “Sweeney begins bid for 3rd term”, The Times Union, June 11, 2002 [PDF]
- [11]
- Elizabeth Benjamin, “Gillibrand promises ‘real voice’”, The Times Union, Jan. 3, 2007 [PDF]
- [12]
- William J. Kemble, “In congressional district, Gillibrand wins praise from both sides of the aisle”, Daily Freeman, Jan. 24, 2009 [PDF]
- [13]
- Kevin Zhou, “News Analysis: Obama Win Could End ROTC Battle”, The Harvard Crimson, Oct. 22, 2008 [PDF]
- [14]
- “Perspective Update,” Perspective, June 1991 [PDF]
- [15]
- Scott Murphy, “Abuse of Power”, Perspective, June 1991 [PDF]
- [16]
- Scott Murphy, “Abuse of Power”, Perspective, June 1991 [PDF]
- [17]
- Stephen E. Ambrose, “Ike and the Disappearing Atrocities,” New York Times, Feb. 24, 1991 [PDF]
