Forty years ago, ROTC units disappeared from Yale, Harvard, Columbia, Stanford and other elite schools, casualties of Vietnam-era tension and academic power struggles. Now, those same schools are moving toward welcoming ROTC units back, thanks to the imminent demise of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” the policy barring gays from serving openly in the U.S. military.
The mutual interest in resurrecting ROTC detachments is a significant development in the sometimes strained relationship between the military and universities.
But it is far from certain the military will return to these colleges. And the prospect of renewed campus debates on the topic could expose anti-military sentiment that some suspect lurked beneath stated opposition to “don’t ask, don’t tell.”
“I think it’s more than just rhetoric right now,” said Donald Downs, a professor of political science, law and journalism at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and author of a forthcoming book on the military and universities. “Especially at the administrative level, I think the schools are sincere. The real question is how willing the military might be.”
Opposition might arise, but universities largely value the positive impact veterans bring to campus, as well as their GI Bill money, Downs said. At the same time, the military long ago shifted officer recruitment to the South, “and a lot of people in the military . . . (aren’t) sure the Ivy League-type of student is the kind that would make a good warrior,” he said.
Yale sophomore James Campbell is trying to counter such beliefs as head of the Yale College Council ROTC Committee. He points out the college had about 100 students in ROTC when the Army and Navy pulled out in the early 1970s, unwilling to meet Yale demands for an extensive overhaul of the program and elimination of academic credit for ROTC courses.
Campbell is Yale’s only Army ROTC cadet.
Although it is often said campuses “banned” ROTC, Downs and others say the reality is more nuanced. Disputes in the late 1960s and early 1970s centered on whether military programs passed academic muster. But those issues existed before, and colleges didn’t press the issue until outrage over the war in Vietnam boiled over.
“The reason for this perceived divide between the country’s elite academic institutions and its military is people don’t think students want to serve in the military,” Campbell said. “But Yale students haven’t been serving in the military because we haven’t had the same channels as everyone else.”
After the Senate vote to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell,” Yale president Richard Levin said the faculty next semester would consider expanding students’ military opportunities. He also said school officials would “consult with officials in Washington early in the new year to determine the military’s interest in establishing an ROTC unit at Yale.”
