Harvard pres: ROTC return if gays can openly serve

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard University's president says the school will resume a long-banned Reserve Officer Training Corps program when federal law allows gays to serve openly in the military.

President Drew Gilpin Faust has spoken before about bringing the ROTC back pending repeal of the 1993 law known as "don't ask, don't tell." She emphasized her position Wednesday in introducing Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen before he spoke at the Ivy League school.

Faust says Harvard is prepared to "fully" recognize the ROTC when all students have "the privilege and honor of military service" without having to lie.

Her comments first were reported by The Harvard Crimson student newspaper. They come as talk of a repeal increases in Washington.

Harvard banned the ROTC in 1969 amid Vietnam War dissent. Its ROTC students train at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.