Army SROTC returns to Harvard
Harvard will financially support student participation in the army Senior Reserve Officer Training Corps program, the university announced yesterday, according to the Harvard Crimson. Harvard allowed the Naval ROTC back on its campus six months ago.
The repeal of the "Don't ask, Don't tell" policy catalyzed the decision, the Crimson reported. Harvard has not allowed SROTC to have a "formal presence on campus" since the Vietnam War, according to Boston.com.
"This is a welcome step in the long and distinguished history of military service by members of the Harvard community," Harvard President Drew Faust said in a statement.
Harvard students will still participate in the program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but Harvard will give them access to classrooms and fields on their campus, Boston.com reported.
"The Army welcomes the opportunity to expand its presence on the Harvard campus," Major General Mark McDonald, commander of the US Army Cadet Command, said in a statement.
Number of LSAT-takers drops
The number of LSAT exams taken dropped over 16 percent this year, according to the Law School Admission Council. The decrease is the largest in over 10 years.
The number of tests administered reflects a 24 percent drop since its peak in popularity in the 2009-10 school year, according to the Council.
The drop in exam-takers reflects a general loss of interest in law school, according to the Atlantic. Last year's incoming law school class was the smallest since 2002, the Atlantic reported.
The smaller number of students interested in law school is due to the grim prospects for young lawyers entering the work force, according to an article published in the New York Times. Graduating law school is no longer a guarantee of financial security, and many students are realizing the high cost of law school tuition may not be worth it, the Times reported.
"The idea that law school is an easy ticket to financial security is finally breaking down," Kyle McEntee of Law School Transparency, a legal education policy organization, told the New York Times.
Christian student groups fail to win appeal
A Christian fraternity and sorority at San Diego State University lost their Supreme Court appeal for official recognition by the university, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.
The student groups would only accept members with Christian beliefs, violating the school's policy against such membership restrictions, the Chronicle reported.
The fraternity and sorority are not eligible for university funding and cannot use the school name or mascot to advertise their groups, according to the Washington Post.
The groups believed their first amendment rights were being violated, but the Supreme Court refused to change the decision it made in 2010 that stated schools could refuse to recognize organizations that were exclusive on religious grounds.
"The university did not tell the Democratic club it must be led by a Republican, or the vegetarian club it must be led by a meat-eater, but it did tell Christian groups that they must allow themselves to be led by atheists," David Cortman, a lawyer for the religious groups, said Monday, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
"They're perfectly free to express their views and associate" with each other in campus buildings, said David Blair-Loy, an attorney who supported the University in the lower courts, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. "They just don't have the right to get government money to do it."
