Although the United States Senate's repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy on Dec. 18, 2010 has prompted many Ivy League institutions to restructure their policies surrounding ROTC programs, the relationship between Dartmouth and its satellite Reserve Officers Training Corps program at Norwich University has remained unchanged amidst recent debates, according to members of the College's ROTC.
"The impact [on Dartmouth ROTC] has been zero," Sgt. Maj. Levi Bennett, who heads Dartmouth's ROTC, said. "We were here during don't ask don't tell,' and we're here even now," he said.
The College's ROTC program which has enlisted 13 members is stationed in a small office in "the farthest corner of the campus" in Leverone Field House, according to cadet Jacob Wijnberg '12. The ROTC program at Dartmouth operates out of Norwich University, a military school, and receives partial funding from the Dean of the College's Office, according to Bennett.
"The programmatic support through the Army is through the Norwich University," Bennett said. "We do receive some school funds from Dartmouth. The scholarship money comes from Dartmouth. This relationship was formed as a means to continue to train and commission young people who are graduates at Dartmouth. Dartmouth no longer had a resonate program in the '80s."
Despite recent legislation regarding gay members of the military, the Dartmouth ROTC program has not changed since the December vote, according to Wijnberg.
"We're a pretty small program, and we're trying to move," Wijnberg said. "But I guess that the College hasn't totally taken ownership of the program. What the Dartmouth ROTC needs is a more formal recognition from the College."
Several other Ivy League schools are mimicking Dartmouth's ROTC model as they work to reinstate the program on their campuses in light of the "don't ask, don't tell" repeal, according to Michael Segal, founder of the Advocates for ROTC, an "umbrella group" that works to popularize and support ROTC programs, according to the organization's website.
"The Dartmouth case is really interesting," he said. "Colleges like Harvard [University] and Columbia [University] have a small on-campus office, but Harvard runs its program through [the Massachusetts Institute of Technology]. That's really close by, and I think Columbia is running its through the [State University of New York] campus in the Bronx," he said.
Bennett said few other schools have a "full-time instructor" like himself.
Despite the surge in popularity of ROTC programs on Ivy League campuses, Pam Misener, acting director of the Office of Pluralism and Leadership and the adviser to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students, said the College should approach its involvement with the ROTC's expansion cautiously.
"Any changes, especially growing and expanding changes, should happen only after we see the don't ask, don't tell' policy fully repealed," she said. The policy has yet to take effect and is waiting for final approval from President Barack Obama as well as the secretary of defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to The New York Times.
"I personally would not support any such [expansionist] moves until we know how the repeal is going to look," Misener said.
Members of the ROTC said they do not think that the ROTC program's administrative structure will change in the near future. There are plans, however, to ensure that the program grows further, according to Bennett.
"I want more cadets," he said. "I want more officers enrolled, not just the one or two that we do right now."
Members agree that students interest in joining ROTC or the Army is low, and visibility is one of the ROTC's biggest concerns.
"I know that [College President Jim Yong Kim] has been very supportive about helping us find a central location," Wijnberg said. "This office does not help with visibility. Also, it would help our reputation to have a proper office and conference room."
Bennett acknowledged the difficulties with expanding the program because "space on campus is very limited" and requests take a long time to process.
Bennett traced the program's lack of visibility to the Vietnam War, when many college campuses eliminated their ROTC programs. The College was forced to eliminate its ROTC program after 80 students stormed Parkhurst in 1969 in an anti-ROTC protest, The Dartmouth previously reported. After ROTC returned to the College as a satellite of Norwich University program, faculty members voted unsuccessfully to eliminate the program in 1994 due to discrimination against gay service members.
