Harvard University President Drew Gilpin Faust announced Wednesday that the institution will approve an on-campus Reserve Officer Training Corps unit if the U.S. government repeals the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy for military service members, The Boston Globe reported. The ROTC was disallowed in 1969 due to widespread disapproval of the Vietnam War, and the current ban continues solely because Harvard does not permit intolerance in any undergraduate organization, including the gay and lesbian discrimination seen in the military, Faust told the Globe. Currently, Harvard students wishing to join an ROTC program participate in a unit at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where they receive support and encouragement from the administration at Harvard, according to The Globe. The University also plans to update undergraduate admissions regulations and technology, after discovering that a senior had forged information on his transcript, Inside Higher Ed reported.
The Committee on Research Universities, a new federal panel, met for the first time Wednesday to discuss how research universities could continue as productive and essential institutions, Inside Higher Ed reported. The committee, which consists of corporate chief executive officers and university faculty, will ultimately prepare a report outlining the "top ten actions that Congress, the federal government, state governments, research universities, and others" can take to contribute to national goals, according to the Board on Higher Education and Workforce's website. By analyzing programs offered at research universities, the report will evaluate various institutions' contributions to the country and create future plans to be completed in 10 to 20 years, according to the site.
