Universities, Military Reconsider Restoring On-Campus ROTC
by Frank James
Mutual suspicion, sometimes verging onto outright hostility between the U.S. military and academia, has been pronounced ever since the Vietnam War.
That tension has led many colleges and universities, especially Ivy League campuses, to remain ROTC-free zones, first because of the war, then from opposition to the just repealed Don't Ask, Don't Tell ban on gays serving openly in the U.S. military.
In a related situation, during Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan's confirmation hearing, she was questioned about her role as Harvard Law School dean in the decision to bar military recruiters from campus because of DADT.
The Supreme Court in 2006 ruled the federal government could bar federal money from institutions that barred recruiters from campus.
Now some schools are revisiting the idea of having ROTC on campus. In his State of the Union address, President Obama urged them to say yes to ROTC.
