Free speech flourishes

Among recent gatherings on campus was a rally against war on Iraq (right) on Monday (Oct. 7), where Derrick N. Ashong, a Ph.D. candidate in Afro-American Studies, spoke. At the Law School – where, because of a threat to federal funding, military recruiters have recently been allowed access to the School – an Oct. 7 event organized by HLS LAMBDA protested the military’s stance toward gays and lesbians. HLS Dean Robert C. Clark (below) addressed the crowd. Commenting on the issue, President Lawrence H. Summers said, ‘Generations of Harvard alumni have served with distinction in the U.S. armed forces. Consistent with the ideal of nondiscrimination, I believe that our gay and lesbian students and graduates should have that honorable opportunity as well. Military service is a noble and vitally important calling. Current federal policy not only denies openly homosexual individuals a crucial opportunity to serve their country, it denies all of us the benefit of their service in so important a cause.’