The repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law barring gays and lesbians from serving openly in the armed forces won't be implemented for a few months yet, but it will immediately lead elite colleges to begin to reconcile with the military training program kicked off college campuses more than four decades ago.

Harvard University President Drew Gilpin Faust promised in a November joint appearance with Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen at the school's Institute of Politics that the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) programs would return to Harvard once the Don't Ask law was repealed.

The university will "fully and formally" recognize ROTC once the ban on gays is lifted, she said. "As a further embodiment of that tradition [of service], a ROTC program open to all ought to be fully and formally present on our campus," Faust said, according to a report in The Harvard Crimson, the student newspaper.

"I want to be the president of Harvard who sees the end of 'don't ask, don't tell' because I want to be able to take the steps to ensure that any and every Harvard student can make the honorable and admirable choice to commit him or herself to our nation's defense," she added.

ROTC was barred from operating on campus at Harvard amid the tumult of the Vietnam War in 1969.