Posted on 12/31/2015 3:11:44 AM PST by RoosterRedux
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.
After students arrive on campus, faculty involvement is indispensable. For decades, faculty support for ROTC was limited to a courageous few, such as Columbia sociologist Allan Silver, who died this year. Now others must pick up that work, and a good start would be granting academic credit for more ROTC courses.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
Who needs the Ivy League? Texas A&M corps of cadets numbers 2500.
Gig’em ‘83
Who says the military is better just for having a few officers from these schools? The only reason for this development is that the military welcomes all sorts of perverts, deviants and mentally ill individuals. Will these officers bring more of those values to the uniformed services? Likely. So no, this is not a positive development at all.
Not sure why this is a good thing?
The military has turn into a social experiment.
Agree with your basic points and would add the effects you predict may be tempered due to the drawdown meaning fewer ROTC-commissioned officers getting Active Duty assignments. In a recent local paper article, they recognized a high school student getting an ROTC scholarship for college, noting this student was one of two in the state to receive the award. That’s a huge reduction from my ROTC scholarship days in the 70s.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.