Harvard Will Welcome ROTC Back to Campus

Harvard University on Thursday announced that it will formally welcome back to campus the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps, and will discuss similar affiliations with other branches of the armed forces. Harvard officials previously signaled that they would do so once Congress cleared the way for openly gay individuals to serve in the military. Harvard students have had the option of training with an ROTC unit at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and they will continue their joint training. But Harvard will now pay some of the costs of the program, provide Navy ROTC with office space and hire a director for the program. A statement from Drew Faust, Harvard's president, said: "Our renewed relationship affirms the vital role that the members of our Armed Forces play in serving the nation and securing our freedoms, while also affirming inclusion and opportunity as powerful American ideals. It broadens the pathways for students to participate in an honorable and admirable calling and in so doing advances our commitment to both learning and service."