Student Soldiers: ROTC's Challenge

Graduate students aren’t alone in their military pursuits. Although one may not peg a prestigious liberal arts school as a training ground for future military officers, a small but committed group of Harvard undergraduates would beg to differ. Harvard’s Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) is made up of students who take on a full course load at Harvard while training to become military officers. Although most ROTC cadets get to attend Harvard for free, they are required to serve at least eight years in the military upon graduation. “I think of it as a privilege, an opportunity to serve my country.” says Shawna L. Sinnott ‘10, a midshipman in the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC). Sinnott is the only freshman participating in the demanding Marine Option of NROTC, and regularly travels to MIT for rigorous morning exercises and training with fellow cadets.

In fact, all of Sinnott’s ROTC training is conducted off of Harvard’s campus. Harvard has had a rocky history with ROTC, beginning in 1969 when the organization was first removed from campus after students stormed University Hall in protest to the military presence. Decades later, the University severed ties with ROTC because of the military’s exclusionary “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

In light of the fact that the military is conspicuously missing from Harvard’s undergrad campus, the armed services are rarely counted among the various niches Harvard graduates fill in the job market. Donald M. Coates ‘07, an NROTC midshipman, says that although some fellow students respond positively when they find out he plans to enter the Navy, others aren’t so encouraging. “Some people ask me ‘Why are you doing this, don’t you feel like this is a waste of a Harvard education?’” Coates says. The Engineering Sciences concentrator will enter Flight school next year, which will extend his commitment to 10 years.

Coates sees a military career as a serious investment. “I feel that 10 years from now I have a pretty good platform to jump off of. It may be too late for medical school, but as a military officer with a Harvard degree I can do almost anything I want.”

Some Harvard alumni find their calling in the military even without the help of ROTC. Jonas P. Akins ‘01 taught at an English boarding school and worked in a consulting firm before enrolling in an intensive officer-training program. “Harvard prepared me extremely well for the military,” Akins says, who is now a junior-level Naval lieutenant. “What I do now depends on being able to deal with a variety of circumstances and to think on my feet, something that Harvard taught me particularly well.”