Ivy League may accept ROTC after ‘don’t ask’ repeal

Harvard, Columbia and Yale are signaling they will again allow military recruiting on campus now that gays and lesbians will soon be allowed to serve openly in the armed services.

The Reserve Officer Training Corps will be allowed back on campus at Harvard, according to President Drew Gilpin Faust; it had been banned since the Vietnam War. A Yale ROTC student leader told the school paper that he thinks the program will also be allowed back on campus for the first time since 1969, but that it's unclear whether many students are interested in the program.

Columbia University President Lee Bollinger said debate can now begin on campus over whether the program can return, according to Politico. Repeal "effectively ends what has been a vexing problem for higher education, including at Columbia -- given our desire to be open to our military, but not wanting to violate our own core principle against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation," Bollinger said in a statement.

During Supreme Court confirmation hearings this year, now-Justice Elena Kagan faced angry questioning from some senators over her decision as Harvard Law School dean to restrict military recruiting in 2004 because of "don't ask."

(Photo of a 1969 anti-ROTC protest, with Harvard students forcing a dean out of the administration building: AP)