ROTC Revisited

President Drew Faust, introducing Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at a Harvard Kennedy School address on November 17, said she hopes to be the Harvard president who sees the end of "don't ask, don't tell” and can welcome ROTC back to campus.

Faust noted Mullen's opposition to the policy, which excludes openly gay men and women from serving in the armed forces, and which is being challenged in a federal court case and a bill pending in Congress.

Saying,  “I share his conviction,” she declared that “Harvard has a responsibility to this nation and its citizens,” embodied in a “long tradition of service.” Consistent with that tradition, she said, “an ROTC program open to all ought to be fully and formally present on our campus, for it is also my belief that gays and lesbians should have full rights as citizens, including the privilege and honor of military service.”

These declarations followed on Faust's remarks earlier in the fall that drew a reaction from Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown.

Read the Boston Globe and Harvard Crimson reports on Mullen's speech and Faust's remarks.