Despite cost, Tufts ROTC marches off the hill

Once an attendance "lifesaver for Tufts," University participation in the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) program has dropped precipitously since its inception to just 11 midshipmen today. No longer a visible part of campus life, ROTC members train at the nearby Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and plan to stay there.

The Tufts ROTC program began after World War II, when the war effort depleted the student body to the point of financial strain. Intense lobbying in Washington on the part of then University President Leonard Carmichael brought an ROTC division to Tufts. The program instantly welcomed 1,000 students in a single year, "saving" attendance numbers.

Eventually, however, interest in the program dropped, especially as the war in Vietnam became a prevalent issue on college campuses.

Today, the ROTC program is run through MIT together with Harvard and Boston University (BU). Tufts paid MIT $51,000 in fiscal year 2002 and $36,000 in fiscal year 2001 to send students there, according to Budget Fiscal Officer Jack Reilly. "The amount we pay MIT varies depending on the number of students we have enrolled in the program," he said.

The ROTC program does not have a base at Tufts because there are not enough interested students to justify its existence here, President Larry Bacow said. Several years ago, a faculty vote also determined that the program would remain off-campus.

According to Captain Conrad Donahue, the United States Navy head of the MIT-Harvard-Tufts ROTC program, there are 61 midshipmen between the three schools. Donahue would like to see Tufts' participation level rise to 20 students.

Aside from low participation levels, another obstacle to bringing an ROTC program to Tufts is the US Government's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which administrators say discriminates against enlisting gay servicemen and women.

While the ROTC program is integral to the Tufts mission, government policies conflict with University values in this case, Bacow said. "The government's 'don't ask, don't tell' policy has placed in tension two principles that we hold dear at Tufts: our commitment to service and our commitment to being an open campus where we do not discriminate on any basis," he said.

The decision to bring ROTC back to campus would be controlled by Tufts faculty members and the US Government. Even with faculty support, the government would still need to decide if the number of Tufts participants justifies offering courses at Tufts.

The return of ROTC would bring increased visibility to a much-neglected program at Tufts, said junior Maggie McClory, who is not in the ROTC. "I definitely think the ROTC program should be brought back to the Tufts campus," she said. "It would make things a lot easier for the students involved and also give other Tufts students a chance to see what kind of things they do on a daily basis."

But other students did not agree that having an ROTC program would have a positive effect. "Bringing the program back to Tufts would certainly encourage more participation in it, or at least indicate administrative support of ROTC," sophomore Richard VanOrnum said, "but I'm not sure how much it would benefit the program."

As it stands, the ROTC program continues to provide a variety of opportunities for its enrolled students. Students are not obligated to pay back the first year's tuition if they decide to leave the program. Once a midshipman becomes a sophomore, however, they commit to four years of service. "This way a student can decide whether the program is right for them without the obligations in the first year," Donahue said.

In addition to paid tuition, these students also receive $250 monthly stipends and $300 toward the cost of books. The only cost students incur is for room and board.

While these benefits sound appealing, they come with many added responsibilities. Midshipmen have a Naval Science class two times a week, participate in a group lab once a week, and have drills and inspection. They must also train physically, generally exercising in small groups three or four times a week at Tufts, Donahue said.

The program is designed so that midshipmen may also enjoy regular college life and have their own on-campus experiences. "We also want to keep students on Tufts [campus] and want them to partake in non-ROTC programs," Donahue said.

This proves to be a challenge to midshipmen, who spend much of their free time commuting to MIT and back. This is an especially complicated task when the MBTA is closed, freshman midshipman Paul Maliakel said.

Another difficulty for midshipmen arose when the faculty voted to deny credit for ROTC classes. Maliakel found it frustrating that he spends so much time on ROTC work and does not receive University recognition for it. "We have to take tests and get homework in addition to our primary school work, yet we receive no credit for completing it," he said.