The Return of ROTC to New York City by Cheryl Miller

POLICY BRIEF 14 • OCTOBER 2013

The Return of ROTC to New York City By Cheryl Miller

Last month, the US Army Reserve Officers’ Training official ties with ROTC have been renewed at Harvard, Corps (ROTC) returned to the City College of New York Yale, Stanford, Columbia, and City College. after a 41-year absence. At the official signing ceremony ROTC’s return also heralds an important change for last May, former secretary of state and retired general the military. The anti-ROTC campaigns of the Vietnam Colin Powell—arguably the college’s most famous alum era coincided with a shift by the military away from the and a graduate of Army ROTC—noted the significance Northeast and urban areas toward easier recruiting grounds of the reconciliation. In bringing ROTC back to campus, in the South and the Midwest. Over the years, this policy General Powell said, the college was recognizing that “we has become more pronounced, widening the gap between may disagree with the politics or the policies of it all but Americans and their military. Nowhere has this disconnect military service is honorable.”1 been more evident than in America’s largest city, which, General Powell’s words were a reminder of ROTC’s until recently, was served by just four ROTC programs. tumultuous history at City College and its forced ouster In short, the renewal of City College ROTC marks a during the firestorm of student protests over the Viet- move by the Army toward reengagement with New York nam War. Like several other prominent schools—among City and with other areas currently underserved by mil- them, Harvard, Yale, and Columbia University—City itary recruiting policy. The City College program is part College had hosted one of the earliest ROTC programs of a larger effort to make ROTC more accessible to New in the nation, graduating its first class in 1917. But this York City students. Not only does the college provide collaboration ended during the Vietnam era after some ROTC with a foothold in Manhattan—New York’s most schools voted to bar the college-based training program populous borough—but it will also serve as headquarters for military officers from campus.2 Later opposition to for a new partnership with the City University of New US policy on gays in the military, particularly “Don’t Ask, York (CUNY), the public university system to which Don’t Tell” (DADT), reinforced the schools’ bans and led City College belongs. to the removal of more ROTC programs, including at one Along with its longtime programs at Fordham Uni- of City College’s sister schools, the John Jay College of versity in the Bronx and St. John’s University in Queens, Criminal Justice, in the late 1980s and early ’90s. Army ROTC is now teaching classes at York College in Recent years have seen a softening in attitudes about Queens (established last fall) and began training at Med- the military among students and faculty. The attacks on gar Evers College in Brooklyn last month.4 The CUNY- September 11, 2001, and the subsequent wars in Afghan- ROTC partnership will redress the current scarcity of istan and Iraq—as well as the upswell of new student commissioning opportunities in New York, making the veterans—led many at America’s colleges and universities program more available to hundreds of thousands of to reassess their views of ROTC.3 The 2010 repeal of students in all five boroughs of the city. If successful, it DADT removed another obstacle to ROTC’s return. can serve as an example for big-city campuses in other Thus, since 2011, with remarkably little opposition, underserved areas like Chicago and Los Angeles.5 POLICY BRIEF 14

Reengaging New York and Other ages 50 and older. Family connections with the mili- Urban Areas tary are most common in the South, where 64 percent reported having a family tie. That compares with 56 From its formal adoption in 1916, ROTC was intended percent of those in the Northeast.7 to be a national program. Uneasy with the prospect of Patterns in who joins the armed forces may help a professional military elite trained at the service acade- widen the gap. Those with veterans in their family are mies, the United States turned to college-based training more likely to join the military.8 But young Americans programs that would produce citizen-soldier officers. By have far fewer family connections to the military than virtue of their different education, these officers would previous generations, making them less likely to join. As infuse the military with a broader set of civilian values a result, more Americans are increasingly insulated from and help ensure that the military’s leadership would military service. more reflect the country as a whole. In short, an ROTC program that encompassed all 50 states, all strata of society, and all types of institutions could help maintain Since 2011, with remarkably little the social, geographic, economic, and intellectual balance of the officer corps in a way that other commissioning opposition, official ties with ROTC sources could not. But in recent decades, the ROTC has become con- have been renewed at Harvard, centrated in the South and the Midwest at the expense of the Northeast and urban centers. Prior to ROTC’s return Yale, Stanford, Columbia, and to City College, New York City—home to the nation’s largest student population—had just four host programs: City College. two Army, one Navy, and one Air Force. In comparison, Virginia, with a population roughly equivalent to the During peacetime, this gap may have been manage- city’s, has 20. Alabama, with a little over half the popula- able, but in the wake of two protracted wars—Afghanistan tion, has 10 Army programs. and Iraq—top military leaders began to express concerns The reasons for ROTC’s retreat are complex. Anti- about the social costs associated with current policy. In military sentiment at some schools has certainly played a much-discussed speech at Duke University in 2010, a role, but economic pressures have hit even harder. former secretary of defense Robert Gates challenged the During the first wave of closures, from 1968 to 1974, the military to broaden its recruiting base or risk developing Army closed 43 ROTC programs in the Northeast and a cadre of military leaders who politically, socially, and opened 45 new programs in the South. But the second geographically have less and less in common with the wave, during the post-Cold War drawdown, saw cuts to people they have sworn to defend.9 still more programs in the Northeast—70 in all, includ- In renewing relationships with Ivy League schools, ing the Army’s remaining programs in Manhattan and military officials often noted the need to ensure ROTC’s Brooklyn. Urban areas were deeply affected: New Jersey national representation. “To best serve our nation, the lost four of its seven Army ROTC units; Pittsburgh and military has to be reflective of the nation it serves, and it Chicago each lost two of three units; and Philadelphia’s does not serve our country well if any part of the society Army ROTC units were cut from four to two.6 does not share in the honor of its defense,” Secretary of Whatever motivated the retreat, the outcome has the Navy Ray Mabus remarked at Yale’s 2011 signing been clear. A shrinking ROTC footprint, combined with ceremony.10 Admiral Mike Mullen, then-chairman of the a smaller military and the consolidation of bases around Joint Chiefs of Staff, commented on the rapprochement the country, means fewer Americans know someone who with the Ivies to the Boston Globe: “I think representation serves. Young adults (ages 18–29) are the most discon- . . . in particular [at] universities in the Northeast would nected; just one-third have a close family member with be of great benefit to both the universities as well as the military experience, compared to 77 percent of adults military, as well as the country.”11

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Beyond warning about a growing civil-military gap, Colonel Mathis and her team were quick to recognize the military is taking concrete steps to reengage urban the unique opportunities that CUNY, as the nation’s areas and the Northeast. Major General Jefforey A. Smith, third-largest public university system, afforded. commander of the US Army Cadet Command, which With 24 campuses in all five boroughs, CUNY could oversees the branch’s ROTC program, commissioned a help the Army expand from its distant, outer-borough new “Strategic Plan” for ROTC that affirms the impor- posts to more accessible locations, including the city’s tance of geographic diversity and establishes more geo- most populous boroughs, Manhattan and Brooklyn. graphically balanced recruiting targets.12 “The goal for An expanded ROTC footprint would cut down on Army ROTC is to produce an officer corps that reflects commutes for cadets at nonhost schools—a significant the racial, ethnic and geographic diversity of America, obstacle to participation in the program. But even better not of colleges,” General Smith noted in a recent Army from the Army’s point of view was that CUNY’s central press release. “Obtaining the right balance of second registration system would allow any of the university’s lieutenants will provide the Army the right balance of 480,000 students to enroll in the ROTC program most lieutenant colonels and colonels in 2030 and beyond.”13 convenient to them and receive credit on their official General Smith’s strategic plan envisions broad CUNY transcript.16 changes to ROTC’s military science curriculum and summer training course, as well as its recruiting strategy. Of particular note are the new geographic mission targets A shrinking ROTC footprint, for ROTC, which are now based on the number of ROTC-qualified students in a designated area. By setting combined with a smaller military and targets based on population rather than by program, this strategy incentivizes ROTC recruiters to expand outreach the consolidation of bases around and raises previously low expectations for performance in the Northeast and urban areas.14 the country, means fewer Americans But the most ambitious part of General Smith’s plan for ROTC is the new partnership with CUNY. Plans for know someone who serves. the new program were initially sparked by an inquiry from Colin Powell, who had long advocated for the return of the CUNY’s student body is not only large but also CUNY ROTC. Powell’s support promised to ease the way remarkably diverse. African American, white, and His- for collaboration with CUNY, given his close relationship panic undergraduates each represent more than a quarter with university administration and highly visible status as of the student body and Asians more than 15 percent. notable alum. CUNY also offered affordable tuition; cam- Over 40 percent of undergraduates speak a native lan- puses located throughout the city that are easily accessible guage other than English.17 In recent years, the military via public transportation; and a large, diverse student body. has sought to diversify its officer corps to better reflect As General Smith noted at the CUNY signing ceremony, the racial and ethnic mix in American society. But it has “The addition of CUNY campuses will provide the Army’s also come to recognize that it needs to define diversity officer corps with urban experience and could contribute more broadly to include backgrounds and skills necessary significantly to the racial, ethnic and geographic diversity for today’s armed forces, such as recruiting people from the Army seeks.”15 more varied regions and cultural backgrounds and with foreign-language skills.18 On both these measures of diversity, CUNY excels. Implementing the CUNY Partnership CUNY’s low tuition rates also appealed to the Army. With defense cuts looming, ROTC would have to stretch Implementation of the partnership fell to Colonel Twala its scholarship dollars further at many schools—a partic- Mathis, commander of the Second ROTC Brigade, ular challenge for the high-cost Northeast, where in-state which oversees Army ROTC programs in the Northeast. tuition for schools with a host program averages over

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$27,000. By contrast, City College charges just $5,730 Pishock and his team went to work with Dinello per year to state residents, substantially less than its peer and a group of supportive professors and administrators institutions.19 Moreover, at CUNY, ROTC recruiters who had connections with the military.23 In March would not have to compete with the financial aid policies 2011, Keizs introduced the proposal as one of dozens of that make ROTC scholarships less attractive at many of initiatives in the college’s 10-year strategic plan. By the the region’s expensive private schools.20 following year, the school senate overwhelmingly voted to approve the ROTC curriculum, and classes began that fall with 18 students enrolled.24 In the meantime, the The military is taking concrete Army team paved the way for another satellite program at Medgar Evers College and received final approval for steps to reengage urban areas ROTC’s return to City College in March 2013. With the start of school this fall, Army ROTC now and the Northeast. covers four of New York’s five boroughs: Fordham Uni- versity in the Bronx, York College and St. John’s Univer- Finally, CUNY offered a supportive administration sity in Queens, Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, and willing to play an equal role in the new program’s success. City College in Manhattan. (Another CUNY ROTC The university agreed to assume financial responsibility program is planned for the College of Staten Island.) for the cost of its students’ participation and to provide office space and access to classrooms and other facilities. CUNY administrators also expressed strong support for Naval ROTC at Columbia University the program, arguing that on-campus ROTC expanded students’ career choices. “I like to think that if it was The Navy has been less bold in its efforts to reengage with good enough for Colin Powell it should be good enough New York and other underserved areas. In part, this has for our students,” Marcia Keizs, president of CUNY’s been by design. Wary of student and faculty opposition, York College in Jamaica, Queens, told the campus news- the Navy has worked quietly with Columbia University paper. “I just think it’s another opportunity for students since the Naval ROTC (NROTC) program was reinstated and it gives them a choice.”21 Likewise, York College in 2011. The goal of this low-key approach is, in the Associate Dean William Dinello asked, “Why not give words of retired US Navy captain Ted Graeske, chair of our students the opportunity to enlist in the Army and the Columbia Alliance for ROTC (an alumni network), have leadership skills, go in as officers and have a clear to establish ROTC as “a normal campus activity.”25 career path? Let students try the ROTC for two years and Rather than establish a full-fledged program at see if they even like it.”22 Columbia, in 2012, the Navy opened its consortia pro- The partnership began with a satellite program at gram at State University of New York (SUNY)–Maritime York College. The Army chose to proceed with the York to Columbia students. (Participation in the Maritime program first in part because City College’s governing program is strictly limited to students at partner schools, structure required faculty approval of the ROTC cur- which include Fordham University and Molloy College.) riculum by two different committees. While the Army Although students have to commute to Maritime’s Bronx built support at City College during its lengthy approval campus for classes and physical training, both the Navy process, it would build on the positive reception it had and Columbia have sought to make the program part of received at York and establish a foothold at CUNY. To mainstream campus life. head the effort, the Army appointed an energetic young The first hurdle the NROTC program had to Iraq war veteran, Lieutenant Colonel Joe Pishock, who cross was finding space on campus. Stephen Ritten- commands the nearby St. John’s University ROTC berg, the vice provost for academic administration, who program. He was joined by a reserve officer, Lieutenant oversees the NROTC program, insisted that the new Colonel Juan Howie, and Sergeant Major Roberto Alva- NROTC offices be located in a building frequented by rez, formerly of St. John’s. students and one that was part of the academic life of

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the university—not the gym. Unable to find an existing force. How the newly established ROTC programs will office, Columbia converted a space in its student center weather these changes remains to be seen. to serve as NROTC headquarters. Personnel from Mari- The most immediate challenge facing ROTC is time hold office hours on campus a few days a week, and sequestration and a defense budget on the decline. Captain Matthew Loughlin, the commanding officer of Already, US Army Cadet Command has seen its funding New York City NROTC, visits regularly. reduced by $98 million.30 The Army is also undergoing downsizing and will see its overall end strength down by about 80,000 soldiers, reducing the need for a large With the start of school this fall, supply of new officers. In response, Cadet Command is looking to reduce costs, cutting back on its marketing Army ROTC now covers four of and travel budgets and reviewing all contracts and events. One key question is whether Cadet Command will New York’s five boroughs. be able to resource the personnel necessary to teach and staff programs at the new campuses. The CUNY-ROTC Progress continues since Columbia NROTC’s first team has accomplished much even as it has operated semester in fall 2012. The university approved a bud- with a limited staff. Both Lieutenant Colonel Pishock get for the program through its new Office of Veteran and Sergeant Major Alvarez are doing double duty at Affairs and ROTC, and the funds help cover transport- CUNY and St. John’s, while Lieutenant Colonel Howie ing participating students to and from Maritime. Aca- is a reservist whose continued role at CUNY depends on demic credit for two courses has been granted—one by his contract being renewed. Likewise, budget and staffing the mechanical engineering department and the School constraints have led the Navy to hold off on launching an of Engineering and Applied Science and the other by the on-campus program at Columbia in lieu of opening up philosophy department.26 Columbia is also reaching out its program at Maritime. to the other service branches and is in early discussions As military leaders begin to confront these chal- with the Air Force (which has just one New York ROTC lenges, a look at ROTC’s recent history may prove program at Manhattan College) about bringing an instructive. This is not the first time that the military ROTC unit to Columbia.27 has sought to recover its lost footing in the Northeast Apart from its efforts at Columbia, the Navy has and in big cities. In the period after the Vietnam War, also sought to realign its ROTC footprint. Recently, it ROTC rebounded and began to increase the number of established new programs—the first in decades—in two schools providing training. New units were established, northeastern states: Connecticut and New Jersey. Yale’s including the current program at St. John’s and a satellite restored naval unit is intended to draw students from program at CUNY’s John Jay School of Criminal Justice. across the state, while Rutgers University now offers the But this moment of expansion was short-lived: with the only NROTC program in the Garden State.28 Introduc- end of the Cold War, defense cuts and force reductions ing the Rutgers unit, Commander James Crate made saw the ROTC program dramatically downsized. In an note of the Navy’s new goal to restore ROTC’s geo- effort to trim costs, ROTC cut back recruitment, closed graphic balance: “We want the Navy to be a representa- units, and asked students at campuses no longer served tive for all 50 states. To not have officers from one of the to commute to campuses where programs remained. states is a disservice to the nation.”29 The new programs established to rebalance ROTC’s geographic footprint were among the first to be cut since they tended to be small and lacked strong advocates Conclusion within the military. The consequences of these decisions are still felt Much progress had been made in the past few years. But today. In concentrating its resources on areas most likely a number of changes on the horizon will likely impact to produce the largest number of officers at the least cost ROTC, from shrinking defense budgets to a downsizing to taxpayers, the military has inadvertently lost contact

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with broad segments of American society. It is not hard Notes to see how this has happened: the benefits of a more geographically balanced ROTC program are not easily quan- 1. Jeff Mays, “Colin Powell Helps City College Re-Launch tifiable, while the costs of an imbalanced program are not ROTC Program,” DNAInfo, May 21, 2013, www.dnainfo. typically felt until a moment of crisis. In the face of more com/new-york/20130521/hamilton-heights/colin-powell-helps- urgent concerns, such as the need to recruit a sufficient city-college-re-launch-rotc-program. supply of officers with limited resources, it is understand- 2. Schools requesting that the ROTC be withdrawn able that the military would discount or neglect ROTC’s included Boston College, Boston University, Brown University, important civic function. Colgate University, Columbia University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Hobart College, New York University, Pratt The most immediate challenge Institute, Princeton University, Stanford University, SUNY Buffalo, Tufts University, and Yale University. Prior to the most facing ROTC is sequestration and recent wave of renewals, a handful of schools, including Boston University, Dartmouth, and Princeton, had already invited a defense budget on the decline. ROTC back. 3. See, for example, Bryan Bender, “Elite Colleges Thawing Already, US Army Cadet Command on ROTC,” Boston Globe, April 26, 2010, www.boston.com/ news/nation/washington/articles/2010/04/26/resistance_to_ has seen its funding reduced rotc_on_elite_campuses_eases/. 4. CUNY Newswire, “ROTC Returns to CUNY,” May by $98 million. 21, 2013, www1.cuny.edu/mu/forum/2013/05/21/rotc- returns-to-cuny/. Current military leadership knows this history, and 5. Minutes of the Faculty Senate Plenary, City College of it understands, from the hard experience of more than New York, February 21, 2013. a decade at war, the dangers of a military disconnected 6. For more about ROTC’s history and geographic from the civilian population it is sworn to defend. Will representation, see Cheryl Miller, Underserved: A Case Study of it prove better able to balance budgetary and operational ROTC in New York City (Washington, DC: AEI Program on demands with ROTC’s civic and social role? American Citizenship, May 2011), www.citizenship-aei.org/ There is good reason to make the effort. Through- wp-content/uploads/ROTC-Final-May-2011.pdf. out its history, ROTC has instilled generations of citizen 7. Pew Research Center, “The Military-Civilian Gap: soldiers with the academic and military education Fewer Family Connections,” November 23, 2011, www. necessary for America’s defense. It ensures an officer corps pewsocialtrends.org/2011/11/23/the-military-civilian-gap- that reflects the broad diversity of America and is familiar fewer-family-connections/?src=prc-headline. with the nature of the civilian society they and their 8. Ibid. troops are defending. It exposes students and faculty to 9. Robert M. Gates, “Lecture at Duke University,” (lecture, military personnel and ideas and, especially, to the values Duke University, Durham, NC, September 29, 2010), US those military professionals display by their willingness Department of Defense, www.defense.gov/speeches/speech. to sacrifice their lives in defense of their nation. Both aspx?speechid=1508. the military and the academy stand to benefit from the 10. Yale University, “United States Navy Announces New understanding that comes with proximity. ROTC Unit at Yale, Returning Naval ROTC to Connecticut,” press release, May 26, 2011, http://news.yale.edu/2011/ 05/26/united-states-navy-announces-new-rotc-unit-yale- Author Biography returning-naval-rotc-connecticut-0. 11. Bender, “Elite Colleges Thawing on ROTC.” Cheryl Miller manages AEI’s Program on American 12. United States Army Cadet Command, Strategic Plan Citizenship. 2013, 11. Provided to author.

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13. US Army Cadet Command, “Army, CUNY Reach 22. Cathy Rainone, “School Ties—ROTC Is Back and Agreement on ROTC,” Gold Standard, May 30, 2013, www. Open to All,” CUNY Newswire, April 28, 2013, www1.cuny. fkgoldstandard.com/content/army-cuny-reach-agreement-rotc. edu/mu/forum/2013/04/28/school-ties-rotc-is-back-and-open- 14. For more about ROTC recruiting strategies and their to-all/. impact on geographic diversity, see Steven Trynosky, “The 23. Colin Daileda, “Can ROTC Solve Its Minority Army Should Fix the Geographical Narrowness of Its ROTC Problem?” The Atlantic, April 29, 2013, www.theatlantic.com/ Programs,” Foreign Policy, April 21, 2011, http://ricks national/archive/2013/04/can-rotc-solve-its-minority-problem/ .foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/04/21/the_army_should_fix_ 275390/. the_geographical_narrowness_of_its_rotc_programs. 24. “CUNY’s ROTC Reveille,” New York Post, December 9, 15. US Army Cadet Command, “Army, CUNY Reach 2012. Agreement on ROTC.” 25. Ted Graske, “Advisory Committee Makes Progress,” 16. US Army Cadet Command, “Army Senior ROTC Is Wounded Lion newsletter 3, no. 1. Expanding in New York City,” press release, April 2013, http:// 26. Naomi Sharp, “Corps Requirements,” Bwog, May 11, schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/022FF720-6DAD-4354-8B8C- 2013, http://bwog.com/2013/05/11/corps-requirements/. A806A293D57C/0/CUNYArmySeniorROTCisexpandingin 27. Margaret Mattes, “With Low-Key ROTC Rollout, Little NewYorkCityApril2013.pdf. Chance for Uproar,” Columbia Spectator, October 29, 2012, 17. City University of New York, “A Profile of Undergradu- www.columbiaspectator.com/2012/10/29/low-key-rotc-rollout- ates at CUNY Senior and Community Colleges: Fall 2011,” little-chance-uproar. www.cuny.edu/about/administration/offices/ira/ir/data-book/ 28. Drew Henderson, “New Naval ROTC Unit to Draw current/student/ug_student_profile_f11_final.pdf. Students from Across State,” Yale Daily News, May 26, 2011, 18. Military Leadership Diversity Committee, Decision http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2011/05/26/new-naval-rotc- Paper #5: Defining Diversity, US Department of Defense, unit-to-draw-students-from-across-state/; and US Navy, “Navy February 2011, 5 and 24, http://diversity.defense.gov/ Brings ROTC to Rutgers,” press release, March 12, 2012, www. Resources/Commission/docs/Decision%20Papers/Paper%20 navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=66009. 5%20-%20Defining%20Diversity.pdf. 29. Alex Meier, “Commander Introduces Navy ROTC 19. The average in-state tuition for Southern schools with an Program,” Daily Targum, September 26, 2012, www.dailytargum Army ROTC host program is $11,830.65. For a list of Army .com/news/commander-introduces-navy-rotc-program/article_ ROTC host programs, see US Army, “Army ROTC: Locate 1bbe8094-0799-11e2-a98b-001a4bcf6878.html. School,” www.goarmy.com/rotc/find-schools.html. For CCNY 30. Maj. Gen. Jefforey Smith, “Fort Knox Committed to tuition, see City College of New York, “Tuition and Fees,” Minimizing Impacts of Fiscal Uncertainty While Continuing to www.cuny.edu/admissions/tuition-fees.html. Fulfill Missions,” US Army ROTC and Fort Knox, March 15, 20. Many elite institutions, including Harvard and Yale, 2013, http://rotcandftknox.armylive.dodlive.mil/2013/03/ reduce a student’s financial aid package by the amount of his or 15/fort-knox-committed-to-minimizing-impacts-of-fiscal- her ROTC award, and as a result, a ROTC scholarship—with uncertainty-while-continuing-to-fulfill-missions/. its multiyear service commitment—can be a worse deal than accepting university aid. See, for example, Mike Beaudet, “Harvard ROTC Policy Less Generous Than Other Schools,” Also on This Topic Fox News Boston, January 17, 2013, www.myfoxboston.com/ • Gary J. Schmitt and Cheryl Miller, “The Mili- story/20618537/2013/01/17/harvard-rotc-policy-less-generous- tary Should Mirror the Nation,” Wall Street Journal, than-other-schools. August 26, 2010 21. Paulana Lamonier and Monica Ganes, “ROTC Coming • Cheryl Miller, Underserved: A Case Study of ROTC to York?” York College’s Pandora’s Box, March 1, 2011, http:// in New York City, AEI Program on American Citizen- pbwire.cunycampuswire.com/2011/03/01/rotc-coming-to- ship, May 2011 york/.