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<p>I think having ROTC on campus would improve diversity. By not allowing it on campus, it shows that the school isn’t committed. There are students who take pride and identify with the military. Would a gay student find it a turnoff if a LGBT group was two miles away at a different college?</p>
<p>Or it could just show that there isn’t enough interest to justify having an ROTC program on two campuses in the same small city, in an area of the country where interest in the military is already quite low. </p>
<p>Emory doesn’t have ROTC on campus. It’s not like we hate the troops. It’s just that a school that’s only a 7 minute shuttle ride away offers it, so what’s the point of setting up another program for all of five students?</p>
<p>I don’t understand your comparison between ROTC and LGBT clubs. Students make a choice whether or not to be in ROTC, they don’t choose to be gay.</p>
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<p>If I were gay or my sons were gay, I still doubt whether the presence of an on-campus LGBT group would affect his selection of schools; my son reallys love animals and the lack of pet dorms or an on-campus animal shelter did not influence his choice of school. Maybe academics – the whole point of college – has become too de-emphasized in our modern resort-style all-inclusive society?</p>
<p>Is there any evidence that the military wants to have a campus location if demand is low? Again, I think that Brown especially appeals to self-directed make-your-own-choices students and this is about as far from a military philosophy as possible. It has little to do with liberal or conservative – my son is a Brown CS major, is largely apolitical and has no beef with the military but no interest in joining it, either.</p>
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<p>The point was that both are clubs that people identify with and take pride in. Someone can be gay, and not be interested in joining a LGBT club. You are setting up a straw-man argument with your comment. </p>
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<p>For starters, it’s the law. Any college can lose federal funding if they don’t comply with the Solomon amendment. It’s a myth that cross-enrolling with another college waives this requirement. The Department of Defense has not enforced it though, but Brown is in violation.</p>
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<p>But the DOD isn’t a group setup just for fun and camaraderie, they’re making a financial investment and there’s only so much money in their budget for ROTC programs. Why set up an ROTC for a small number of kids when they can set it up for many more elsewhere, for similar cost?</p>
<p>That’s my point.</p>
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<p>Because Brown wants to turn away more than the roughly 9 out of 10 applicants it already turns away?</p>
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<p>There is a difference between DOD opting not to use financial resources, and Brown banning the group. Also, there is no Air Force or Navy program in the state of Rhode Island so there is definitely a need there. </p>
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<p>I think all universities strive to improve – if not they run the risk of being stagnant. Also, I think Brown tries to pride itself on being an inclusive community, so they should act that way.</p>
<p>LGBT groups are also organized and run by student volunteers; give 'em some office space or a meeting room and you’re done. Staffing an ROTC office is a large expense and there would undoubtedly be pressure upon the administrator of that office (if he wants a promotion) to justify that expense by intense recruiting efforts. One can be for the military in principle without wanting to be subjected to 4 years of continuous pitches from their local sales office.</p>
<p>The fact that there is, purportedly, such a low demand for ROTC at Brown itself speaks volumes. Why is that? There are many schools where the kids are just as smart but there is a considerable demand for ROTC–Duke, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern—just to name a few. And these are all located in states carried by President Obama in the recent election so it is not a red state/blue state thing. At those schools, many students aren’t planning for a long career in the military but rather opt for ROTC because you can significantly reduce the cost of a college education through a ROTC scholarship. Before the Vietnam War, Brown too had a thriving Navy ROTC battalion. Brown was a liberal place then too, but it was also more balanced than it is today.</p>
<p>While it is true that Brown students are not entirely deprived of the opportunity for a ROTC scholarship, having to travel across town to Providence College is sufficient disincentive that very few students do it. If you have your own car, you can probably make the trip in 20 minutes. If you have to go by bus, it is probably an hour. Each way.</p>
<p>I believe that the left-wing culture at Brown discourages students from even considering something like ROTC so the supposed lack of interest becomes a self-fufilling prophesy. I submit that if the culture at Brown was more tolerant of views outside of politically correct progressive thought, you’d find significantly more interest in things such as ROTC.</p>
<p>All the kids I know who are in ROTC made the choice to do that (for financial reasons, often) before they made a specific college choice. Is that not the norm, do kids already at a college decide to join?</p>
<p>I have a junior friend at Berkeley who works out with the ROTC students in the morning and she said she’s one of very few civilians there. According to her, most of the civilians who exercise with the ROTC kids have no interest in joining the military (herself included). They just likethe physical challenge. </p>
<p>I feel that the OP should ask current Brown ROTC students their thoughts on the program before demanding that Brown reinstate ROTC.</p>
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<p>Rochester does not have a true open curriculum, in that it has breadth requirements.</p>
<p>By this logic about open curriculum=liberal, Columbia would be quite conservative because of the Core Curriculum?</p>
<p>The military still bans transgenders from its programs. It’s still not in line with most reputable universities’ nondiscrimination policies.</p>
<p>But really, it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. If the school is known for being particularly liberal, you’re not going to attract as many conservative students or employees.</p>
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<p>But wasn’t that the time when the Open Curriculum was introduced, thus potentially changing the character of future applicants? Not to mention that Richard Nixon was somewhere well to the left of Obama, to say nothing of Romney. Today’s US conservatives have moved deeper and deeper into the extreme right corner relative to the rest of the world’s conservative parties.</p>