"The military is a very cautious bureaucracy,"McDonald said. "It won't do anything withouttesting and more testing. It will not open itsdoor to gays if there will be gay bashingoccurring.
Aronberg expressed skepticism about Clinton'sfuture actions.
"Our big concern is that with all his promises,Clinton will be caught up with other perhaps morepressing issues such as the economy thanintegrating gays and lesbians into the army,"Aronberg said. "I just hope it won't beforgotten."
Bisexual, Gay and Lesbian Students AssociationCo-Chair Rachel E. Cohen '94 also questioned howquickly Clinton will take action.
"It's hard to tell when he will ban thediscrimination, if at all," Cohen said.
Aronberg said the Clinton's promises shouldsatisfy critics of Harvard's ties to ROTC whopoint to the discrepancy between the University'spolicy of non-discrimination and ROTC's exclusionof gays and lesbians.
"As long as ROTC is not incompatible withHarvard's policies, there will be no reason toalter its present relationship," Aronberg said."The only reason our report will be enacted is ifClinton does not fulfill his promise."
Cohen agreed with Aronberg, calling Clinton'spledge "the only legitimate stance."
"My main objection to ROTC will be gone," Cohensaid. "If Clinton does stop the ban, there will beno moral principles on which there would be noROTC at Harvard."
Verba said yesterday he thinks Harvard's ROTCprogram will continue in its current state, ifClinton makes good on his promise.
"It's more efficient to have a combined unit,"Verba said. "It's working well now."
Currently, Harvard ROTC cadets cross-registerat MIT for their ROTC training. The Universitypays MIT roughly $150,000 a year to maintain theoff-campus program.
The report that was issued last month by theROTC committee sought to resolve the ROTC debateby recommending that the University suspend itsfunding of the ROTC program while continuing toaccept ROTC scholarships.
In the wake of student protests against thepresence of military interests at Harvard duringthe Vietnam War, the Faculty Council voted in 1969to terminate Harvard's ROTC program. TheUniversity revived the program in its current formin the mid-1970s, but the council issued anultimatum to the Pentagon two years agothreatening to cut ties again unless it stopsdiscriminating against homosexuals.
Defense Department officials have said that thePentagon would not want a full-scale, on-campusROTC program at Harvard, even if the Universityrequested it. The Pentagon has been cutting ROTCProgram across the country as part of efforts todownsize the military.