Woods Gets Honorable Discharge, Must Repay Tuition

Anthony Woods, M.P.P. ’08—a U.S. Army captain who had served two tours in Iraq—was dismissed from the military after coming out as gay.

Anthony C. Woods, M.P.P. ’08 (the subject of this item in our January-February issue), recently learned that his discharge from the military will be classified as honorable.

A former captain in the U.S. Army who served two tours in Iraq and had been tapped to teach at West Point, Woods gave the graduate English address at Commencement last year. Soon after, he informed his Army supervisor that he was gay, effectively initiating his own dismissal.

Woods, who now works in the Washington, D.C., office of New York governor David Paterson, will still be required to pay the government $35,000, the cost of his military scholarship to the Harvard Kennedy School—a “small price to pay,” he notes, “for being able to live my life."

 

Most popular

Harvard’s Epstein Probe Widened

The University investigates ties to donors, following revelations in newly released files.

U.S. Military to Sever Some Academic Ties with Harvard, Hegseth Says

The defense department will discontinue graduate-level professional programs for active-duty service members.

The True Cost of Grade Inflation at Harvard

How an abundance of A’s created “the most stressed-out world of all.”

Explore More From Current Issue

A silhouette of a person stands before glowing domes in a red, rocky landscape at sunset.

Getting to Mars (for Real)

Humans have been dreaming of living on the Red Planet for decades. Harvard researchers are on the case.

Lawrence H. Summers, looking serious while speaking at a podium with a microphone.

Harvard in the News

Grade inflation, Epstein files fallout, University database breach 

Four young people sitting around a table playing a card game, with a chalkboard in the background.

On Weekends, These Harvard Math Professors Teach the Smaller Set

At Cambridge Math Circle, faculty and alumni share puzzles, riddles, and joy.