President Clinton should continue his efforts to allow avowed homosexuals to serve in the military, President Neil L. Rudenstine said yesterday.

Asked in an interview how he thinks Clinton should proceed in the face of congressional and military opposition, Rudenstine said, "I think he should do pretty much what he is doing, i.e., stay on the course."

Rudenstine and Harvard are concerned with the issue of gays in the military because of its implications for Harvard's ROTC program. A University committee issued a report last fall recommending that Harvard officially sever ties with the program because of its discriminatory policies.

Rudenstine said yesterday that he hopes Clinton Will succeed in changing the military's policy.

"My own sense is that this is the right thingto do, and that a reasonable way can be found tomake it happen. If it's done with enoughdetermination and clarity and persistence, it willhappen," Rudenstine said.

Rudenstine acknowledged that it would bedifficult to reverse the current policy. "Like allsocial change, it will happen with bumps and itwill happen with stresses and strains and so on,"he said.

Rudenstine said he thinks the University willwait and see what happens in Washington beforenegotiating with MIT, which administers Harvard'sROTC program on its campus. The ROTC program atHarvard will likely proceed according to thestatus quo until Clinton decisively succeeds orfails in his efforts to allow gays to serve