BOSTON, Massachusetts (CNN) -- In his first public appearance since the "Beer Summit" at the White House, Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates joked about his controversial arrest last month in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and said he likes police Sgt. James Crowley.

Sgt. James Crowley and professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. sit for beers with the president and vice president Thursday.

"I offered to get his kids into Harvard if he doesn't arrest me anymore," Gates said.

Gates was speaking Sunday at the Martha's Vineyard Book Festival where he signed copies of his book, "In Search of our Roots."

The professor said he plans on meeting with Crowley again. "I offered for the two of us to have lunch together, one-on-one, or go to a Red Sox game, or a Celtics games, or maybe the families can get together for dinner. Why not?"

Gates had a face-to-face meeting and a beer with Crowley at the White House last week, a move orchestrated by President Obama in an attempt to diffuse racial tensions that had erupted following Gates' arrest. Gates called the president's gesture "brilliant."