ROTC To Return to Ivy League Schools
CNN reports:
(CNN) -- The presidents of Harvard and Yale universities have expressed interest in ROTC programs after Congress voted to repeal the military's controversial "don't ask, don't tell" policy that has banned openly gay and lesbian service members.
The universities' statements come five months after Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, then a Supreme Court nominee, came under criticism by Republican senators who complained that she actively tried to block military recruiters from Harvard Law School when she was dean because of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy.
Kagan and the White House have strongly defended her actions, saying that while she opposed the military's policy, Kagan never kept recruiters off the university.
Four months after taking the job as Harvard's dean, in October 2003, Kagan offered students her thoughts in a campus-wide e-mail, saying that to give recruiters equal access to the campus "causes me deep distress. I abhor the military's discriminatory recruitment policy." She called it "a profound wrong - a moral injustice of the first order."
In a written statement, Harvard President Drew Faust called the act to repeal "don't ask, don't tell" a "historic step."
"It affirms American ideals of equal opportunity and underscores the importance of the right to military service as a fundamental dimension of citizenship," Faust said. "I look forward to pursuing discussions with military officials and others to achieve Harvard's full and formal recognition of ROTC. I am very pleased that more students will now have the opportunity to serve their country."
