ROTC is Making a Comeback on College Campuses
In a year of left wing campus protests, this is pretty god news.
The Wall Street Journal reported.
At Last, Some Campus Sanity: ROTC Gains
In a year marred by campus strife, at least one bright spot emerged in American higher education: the comeback of the Reserve Officer Training Corps, known as ROTC, at leading universities.
This year, Columbia University commissioned its first Marine officer, Patrick Poorbaugh, since 1970. Yale graduated two Naval ROTC officers— Sam Cohen and Andrew Heymann—for the first time since Richard Nixon was in the White House. Yale, with 41 midshipmen, boasts the largest NROTC unit in the Ivy League. Harvard senior Charlotte Falletta was recognized as one of the top 10 Army cadets in the nation.
Even Brown University, the last Ivy League school to move beyond the Vietnam-era politics that yanked ROTC programs from campus, is changing. In 2012 Brown established a center for students interested in military careers, and this year the school signed deals allowing students to participate in Naval and Air Force ROTC programs off campus.
Stemming from the repeal of the military’s sexual-orientation policy “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” five years ago, these gains suggest that a genuine resurgence is under way. But to ensure that tomorrow’s military is representative of the nation it protects, further engagement is needed from both university and military leaders.
There are plenty of opportunities to improve recruitment efforts. Cornell, MIT and other universities allow prospective students to indicate their interest in the military on their application and pursue ROTC scholarships. Once admitted, interested students receive more information and guidance from ROTC staff. More institutions should adopt this practice.