Columbia President: DADT Repeal "Effectively Ends" Our Problem with ROTC

Ben Smith reports that schools that currently ban ROTC from campus are moving toward ending their discriminatory practice now that Congress has repealed the law banning openly gay people from serving in the military:

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.

No specifics yet on a timeline, but Harvard's president Drew Faust says, "I look forward to pursuing discussions with military officials and others to achieve Harvard's full and formal recognition of ROTC." And a Yale spokesman tells Smith: ""We are aware of the vote and have plans in consideration."