After nearly four decades of contentious relations with the military, Harvard officially recognized the Naval Reserve Officers’ Training Corps in March following the end of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the national military policy that banned gays and lesbians from serving openly in uniform. The University opened a Naval ROTC office on campus in September, though Harvard cadets will continue to conduct their training at MIT because student participation rates have remained low.

Though many praised Harvard’s decision to renew its ties to the military, students have protested Harvard’s recognition of ROTC because the military does not allow transgender or intersex individuals to serve openly.

In 1969, Harvard expelled ROTC when faculty and student outrage over the Vietnam War reached its peak. Later, the University justified the continued split with the military on the basis of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which Harvard said violated its anti-discrimination policy. Harvard was the first of its peers to welcome back ROTC this year; Columbia and Yale followed within several months.

1. Protesters Occupy Harvard Yard

They have occupied the Yard—and much of campus discussion throughout the past semester.

From October, when members of the Harvard community joined the Occupy Boston protest and some were arrested, to early November, when students walked out of an Ec 10 lecture in protest, support for the nationwide Occupy movement simmered on campus.

Then the occupation of Harvard Yard began. Overnight, the University limited entrance to the Yard to Harvard ID holders only. The increased security left students and tourists divided over the movement. A freshman circulated a petition asking the campers to relocate, and professors urged University President Drew G. Faust to open the gates in a letter and at the monthly meeting of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

In a series of victories for the Occupy movement, Harvard agreed on a new contract for custodial workers, avoiding a threatened strike, and said that it will reconsider its investment in controversial chain HEI Hotels & Resorts. With winter approaching and Occupy Boston shut down by police, Occupy Harvard packed all of its tents—except for its large metal geodesic dome—but vowed to keep advocating for Harvard to bend to its remaining demands. The gates, however, are open wide once more.