Bok said last month, however, that he had no plans in June nor does he have plans now to urge the Faculty to formally reconsider ROTC. He said he had not spoken to Dean Rosovsky about ROTC before or since the speech, nor had he surveyed Faculty for their reaction to a possible new ROTC study.

"I would like to feel sure we had made an unbiased judgment," Bok said, "but I have no strong motivation to get ROTC back. I don't know if enough students are interested to warrant bringing it up, and if no one on the Faculty wants to discuss it, I'm not going to push them."

BUT PRESSURE to reconsider ROTC will not come only from Bok. William F. Buckley, Jr., the conservative journalist, has already praised Bok's remarks in his national column.

Harvard Young Republicans published a Crimson notice last February asking those interested in ROTC to contact the club. Although they received no responses at that time, Jeffrey F. Sagansky '74, a member of the club, said last month that he thought a pro-ROTC campaign was planned for the Fall.

Opponents of ROTC were also surprised by a secret vote of the Boston University faculty during summer vacation approving the reestablishment of B.U. ROTC.

B.U. President John Silver contacted Price Waterhouse, an independent polling agency, to conduct a secret Faculty referendum after the University's Faculty Senate Council had already tabled discussion of ROTC until the Fall.

Despite protests from faculty angered by Silber's tactics, B.U.'s administration has already requested an application to reestablish an army ROTC unit.

The Harvard-Radcliffe New American Movement (NAM) plans to petition early in September for a University-wide referendum to reach a definitive decision on ROTC.

"With good organizing, we should be able to win such a referendum whether the Faculty plans to discuss ROTC or not," Mary M. Lassen '75, a member of NAM, said last month.

WHAT MAKES IT unlikely that Bok had a clear plan behind his June remarks is his lack of apparent motive for advocating a new ROTC study now.

An amendment to a military procurement bill of 1972 which would have denied defense contracts to schools disestablishing ROTC was struck out in conference.

Spokesmen in both the Hanscom Field contract procurement office and the Defense Contract Administration Services regional office in Boston said last month that not having ROTC had not and would not affect contracts assigned to Harvard.

Bok said in August that he had no evidence that ending Harvard ROTC had adversely affected either the assignment of defense contracts or alumni contributions.

Furthermore, Harvard might not be able to get ROTC if it wanted it. Not enough students have indicated an interest in ROTC to come close to approaching the minimum level of interest required to establish a unit.

Although credit for ROTC courses is technically open to contract negotiation, the Navy insists on credit for its courses, Commander Harney, a member of the Navy's Office of Public Affairs, said last month.