"It's progress," she said. "Financially, Harvard is washing its hands of it."

Lin agreed that it was a step, if only a small one.

"I acknowledge transferring the source of funding is a step in the right direction, but it is not enough," he said. "It is unacceptable for Harvard to discriminate."

Duchin said that BGLSA will probably have an official reaction that will likely "recognize that this is progress, but press for an end to the discrimination."

In contrast, the Civil Liberties Union of Harvard (CLUH) said it was satisfied with the report.

"It's not as much as some of us had hoped for, but it is a reasonable and thoughtful compromise," said CLUH Director Eric D. Miller '96. "Students tuition dollars will no longer go toward a discriminatory program like ROTC. It's as much as we could have reasonably hoped for."

Jeff A. Redding '96, CLUH project director for ROTC, agreed.

"The outcome is consistent with the Verba committee report. So, CLUH does not have a problem with the setup, since Harvard is not using money from students," he said. "I don't think Harvard is endorsing discrimination because Harvard itself is not giving the money. It is analogous to these students paying themselves."

Undergraduate Council President David L. Hanselman '94-'95 went even further and said he "was very supportive of the fact that [Rudenstine] did not sever all ties to ROTC." But he made clear he was not speaking on behalf of the council.

"I don't know if the council will take a stand on it," he said.

Harvard's long ROTC march

1968

December 12: Students crash a Faculty meeting at Paine Hall scheduled to Consider Harvard's curricular ties to ROTC.

1969

February 4: The Faculty recommends that the administration rescind ROTC's academic status and make it an extracurricular activity.