Harvard University To Welcome Air Force ROTC Back To Campus

Harvard University Army ROTC program

Harvard University will officially welcome the Air Force ROTC back to campus on Friday, continuing a trend of renewing full partnerships with the various cadet programs after decades of frosty relations between the Ivy League institution and the military.

“This renewed relationship affirms our shared commitment to creating pathways for students to undertake a broad-based liberal arts education, while also dedicating themselves to serving the public and the nation as members of the armed forces,” the school said in a statement to the Globe on Wednesday night.

“ROTC students bring different and important perspectives that enhance and enrich the educational experience for the entire Harvard community, and we are delighted to have Air Force ROTC represented again at Harvard,” the statement said.

Details of the ceremony scheduled for Friday were not available.

Harvard president Drew G. Faust and Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James will sign an agreement at Loeb House on campus to renew the relationship, according to the Harvard Crimson, the school’s student newspaper.

ROTC cadets receive money for their education in exchange for military service.

The Air Force could not be reached for comment late Wednesday.

The Army ROTC program was established on campus in 1916, and Harvard became one of the six original partner institutions of the Naval ROTC 10 years later, according to a school website.

But as the Vietnam War raged, tensions between the university and the military grew, as they did at many elite colleges. Harvard students could serve as cadets, wearing their uniforms on campus. But they had to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to take classes in military strategy and theory.

In recent years, Harvard has slowly restored privileges to military branches. The Navy ROTC was welcomed back to campus in September 2011, followed by the Army six months later.