ROTC Returns to Harvard

After four contentious decades with no official military presence on campus, Harvard University has invited the US Navy to set up shop once more.  In a deal signed today, the Navy will have office space and access to students, but for the time being Harvard ROTC students will continue to drill and train with a unit at MIT that hosts students from several neighboring schools.

The agreement will take effect this summer, once the Navy has fully implemented the repeal of the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.  The policy, which is in opposition to Harvard’s rules for recognized campus groups, has long been a point of friction between the military and the university, and was a well discussed issue during last year’s confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan.