UNIVERSITIES RESPOND TO END OF "DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL" – AT 10:34 A.M. ET:  We wondered yesterday how universities that had used DADT as an excuse to bar ROTC on campus would respond to the DADT repeal.  We're getting some early answers.  From The Politico:

Some top universities moved quickly Saturday to respond to the vote repealing the ban on gays in the military, and those who don't restore their ROTC programs in the wake of the vote are likely to face immediate pressure on the issue.

The ROTC programs have been absent from a number of Ivy League and other leading campuses since the Vietnam War, and many schools subsequently linked programs' return to open service for gays and lesbians. The vote, said Columbia University President Lee Bollinger, provides "the opportunity for a new era in the relationship between universities and our military services."

"This is an historic development for a nation dedicated to fulfilling its core principle of equal rights. It also effectively ends what has been a vexing problem for higher education, including at Columbia -- given our desire to be open to our military, but not wanting to violate our own core principle against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation," he said in a statement through a spokesman.

Harvard University President Drew Faust today signaled that she would move to restore ROTC to the campus.

"Because of today's action by the Senate, gay and lesbian Americans will now also have the right to pursue this honorable calling, and we as a nation will have the benefit of their service," she said in a statement through a spokesman. "I look forward to pursuing discussions with military officials and others to achieve Harvard's full and formal recognition of ROTC."

A spokesman for Yale University also suggested that change may be coming soon.

"We are aware of the vote and have plans in consideration," said Yale spokesman Thomas Mattia in an email.

COMMENT:  So far, so good.  Those are good statements.  But remember that universities are in the midst of their Christmas holidays.  Radical student groups are away, and no faculty meetings are being held.  We haven't heard from the campus left, which has great power.

Already there are rumblings with the word "delay" attached, from gay groups:

Some gay advocates, however, would prefer the schools wait until repeal has been fully implemented. Americablog's John Aravosis wrote that the schools should only let up "when the discharges stop and the ban is fully lifted."

Each university has its own set of rules, and some places may require faculty approval before ROTC is restored.  We'll see whether the positive opening statements chronicled above actually lead to action, or more obstruction.

December 19, 2010