Congratulations to the administration and Trustees of this humble College for the excellent work done in the recent revamping of Dartmouth's financial aid program.It is inspiring to see how far Dartmouth has come now that it is able to offer many of the world's youth a free Ivy League education. In the midst of congratulating our astonishingly generous selves, however, let us pause and think about those who may not be in "need" of aid but who are nonetheless worthy of consideration. President Wright has done a great job reaching out to current veterans, but what about those who will be veterans in the future?
The College should provide Reserve Officer Training Corps scholarship recipients with full room and board free of charge.
Dartmouth currently provides its ROTC program with an office in Leverone Field House and a budget for training. While these gestures are certainly welcome, the College does little else for the program.
Dartmouth obviously wants what is best for her students, but it seems that the College only considers students' future incomes. True, the military pays less than top dollar, but there is much more to success than money. It is important to practice leadership and self-sacrifice in order to give back to the country that gives us so much. The military offers the chance to fulfill our patriotic duty to our homeland.
The advent of the new financial aid plan provides the perfect opportunity to reward ROTC. Room and board costs about $10,000 a year; the current cost for the College to provide room and board for Dartmouth's three cadets with scholarships is about $30,000 a year -- a small amount compared to the new financial aid plan. Even assuming 20 cadets, the extra cost would still only be $200,000.
I am not an ROTC cadet begging for a handout. My goal is to encourage students to give back to their country. Choosing ROTC is not easy; it is definitely not for everyone. After all, I owe four years of my life to the Army after graduation -- and I could be killed. ROTC demands a substantial amount of my time, which means that working another job is hard. I would be a better student and cadet if I didn't have to work a side job.
My Dartmouth advisers were not supportive; the financial aid office was downright stingy. I started receiving the ROTC scholarship in winter term my freshman year. I then lost all of my financial aid, even money from fall term when I was not receiving the ROTC scholarship -- I was stuck paying 100 percent tuition my freshman fall. Some encouragement would have made the process easier; free room and board would have made it far more manageable.
But what about objections to the military's "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy? It is understandable that a campus should examine the values of the organizations it supports. However, although the controversial policy prevents openly gay soldiers from serving in the military, cadets did not create it. Advocating for the return of ROTC to campus, The Columbia Spectator recently argued that current and future cadets should not suffer because of Columbia's decision to equate ROTC and "Don't Ask Don't Tell." Cadets may even be the ones to change the policy someday.
Over 100 schools across the country grant free room and board to ROTC scholarship recipients. Interestingly, most of these schools are quite small and do not have massive, $1 billion endowments like Dartmouth. If these schools can find the money to aid their cadets, where is the change in our deep pockets?
Take a moment to notice the war memorial near the Hanover Inn on your way to your Hinman Box. Consider the verse about war in the original Alma Mater. It is evident that Dartmouth remains proud of its past military contributions -- why can we not also be proud of our future? I understand that the military does not bring the salary nor prestige of investment banking, but, as Homer said, "It is not unseemly for a man to die fighting in defense of his country."
Which is more important: providing the poor but academically promising of the world with a free or reduced education, or encouraging the academically gifted who are willing to lay their lives down for country and ideals? The two are not mutually exclusive by any means; now that we have addressed the former, we should follow suit for the latter.
Do the right thing, Dartmouth. Show the world that we encourage and support those willing to serve.
