Below is a press release from Brown Students for ROTC.

Brown Students for ROTC today launched a petition drive demanding that the University bring the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps back to campus.

“The current stance taken by Brown with regard to ROTC is discriminatory in nature,” said Keith DellaGrotta, the president of Brown Students for ROTC. “The University deters potential cadets from participating in the program by minimizing opportunities and incentives to do so. We hope to change that.”

The petition can be viewed online at www.brownrotc.com.

To raise awareness about their campaign, Students for ROTC has organized two upcoming events:

1. MONDAY, APRIL 19 – Sharpe Refectory. 6:30 p.m. Private dinner for Brown students, faculty, and alumni to discuss the future of ROTC at Brown.

2. TUESDAY, APRIL 20 – Wilson Hall, Room 102. 7:30 p.m. Discussion panel, open to the public, on the importance of ROTC to students, colleges, and the nation. Guest participants will include ROTC colonels and Naval War College officers.

Interested persons are encouraged to visit the website listed above, add their name to the appeal, and attend the Tuesday discussion panel.

Anti-military protesters effectively lobbied the Brown administration to discontinue ROTC on campus in the early 1970s. Before then, Brown offered Navy and Air Force programs with high participation rates. Currently, Brown students have one ROTC option – participate in Providence College’s Army battalion down the road. For the 2009-2010 academic year, Brown involvement stands at one student, representing all four classes.

DellaGrotta noted, “It is impressive Brown currently boasts one cadet, considering cadets must transport themselves to PC for early-morning training exercises, and the Registrar does not award course credit for their efforts. I know personally at least two Brown students who turned down ROTC scholarships because Brown makes the program needlessly difficult.”

For more details, email rotc.brown@gmail.com or call Keith DellaGrotta at (603) 965-5848.

This recent Brown Daily Herald Post- article re-examines the relationship between Brown and ROTC, which was kicked off campus amid all the anti-war fever of the Vietnam era. The author cuts to the heart of the issue: fundamentally, it isn’t about being pro-military or anti-war. It’s about giving students an opportunity to serve and learn. The Post- article seems to have generated some momentum to bring ROTC back to campus. In advance of its publication, The Herald polled students on the issue and found that 41 percent of students favored reinstating ROTC, compared with 25 percent who opposed it. The Herald followed up with an editorial endorsing the move, as did College Republican President Keith DellaGrotta in a letter to the editor.

DellaGrotta has formed a new group, Students for ROTC, to advocate for the change. Given the widespread anti-war sentiment on campus, a reinvigorated ROTC certainly would bring real diversity to Brown. More importantly, we can’t fathom why the opportunity to be involved in ROTC is denied to students. We urge you to visit www.brownrotc.com and sign the petition to bring ROTC back to campus.