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

Lafayette’s Unexpected Gift to George Washington: Pheasants

The two birds will be on display at Harvard this summer.

Harvard Weathers a Year of Turmoil

The federal government has launched unprecedented actions against the University. Here’s a guide.

How Philosophy at Harvard Saved Itself

As humanities shrink across higher education, one department is flourishing. Is its success a fluke, or a roadmap?

Explore More From Current Issue

Colorful illustration of a split-level house showing various activities in different rooms.

Can the College do more to prepare students for the real world?

Collage of three photos of an athlete in a triathlon: one swimming, one cycling, one running, in sports attire.

The Harvard triathlete and coach says she helps normal people to “do extraordinary things.”

A woman jogs on a path beside a boy riding a bicycle, surrounded by trees.

Why Harvard Medical School is training physicians to think more like coaches