The commanding officer of the U.S. Army's Cadet Command announced Tuesday that starting this month, Dartmouth College ROTC cadets will receive scholarships covering full tuition and fees. Maj. Gen. W. Montague Winfield notified College President James Wright of the increase after over a year of lobbying by students in the program and College administrators, including Wright and Dean of the College James Larimore.
Prior to the policy shift, the Army did not award cadets at Dartmouth full scholarships, which are disbursed at several peer institutions including Harvard, Notre Dame, Cornell and Stanford. Until now, the College has provided need-based aid awards to ROTC participants using the same financial assistance policies applicable to all undergraduates.
The College's attitude has been mixed toward the program -- the Board of Trustees has supported the ROTC program as an opportunity to develop leadership skills, but has directed the administration to oppose the Army's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays in the military.
Wright said he was pleased that Dartmouth ROTC cadets will receive the same aid as students at other institutions, but noted that he remains opposed to the Army's "don't ask, don't tell" policy and he blamed Congress for failing to reverse the position.
"I think there are plenty of gay and lesbian participants [in the military] and they should be as comfortable in it as their straight counterparts," Wright said.
Former Dartmouth ROTC cadet Welton Chang '05 spearheaded the effort last year to persuade Maj. Gen. Alan Thrasher, then-Army national commander for ROTC programs, to boost financial aid.
"[Chang] has just done basically everything that a student could to get this funding," current ROTC cadet Peter Chen '08 said.
Current cadet Jason Hartwig '06 also lauded Chang's work to bring the issue to the forefront of campus politics.
"I think this shows that this administration has shown a willingness to work hand-in-hand for ROTC and they should be applauded for that, but a lot of credit should go Welton's way," Hartwig said. "Welton helped last year to bring the issue to the forefront and was able to help generate coordinated action between the ROTC people here and up at Norwich [Academy]," Hartwig said, referring to the ROTC program to which Dartmouth's program is attached.
Chang teamed with the Student Assembly to run a campus-wide poll last Spring, in which 69 percent of undergraduates said they thought the administration should push harder for enhanced financial support for ROTC cadets. But when the Assembly tried to pass a statement supporting the program this Fall, the legislation stalled amid concerns that supporting the program might alienate the gay community on campus.
Chen said the Army's decision came as a surprise.
"I didn't expect it at all -- it came as quite a shock. I think it's really great news though," Chen said.
Christine Paquin contributed to this article.
