The University of Maryland, Baltimore County will apply for an on-campus Army ROTC unit, officials said yesterday, ending weeks of speculation about an issue that has sparked heated protest on the Catonsville campus.
The decision, which was expected to be publicly announced last night, means that the state college could receive an influx of new ROTC scholarships beginning this fall. Officer training on campus would probably begin about 2010.
"We believe that there is an important role for universities to play in helping to prepare leaders in all sectors of American society," said UMBC President Freeman A. Hrabowski III.
The Army's Cadet Command still has to approve UMBC's application, but Maj. Stephen D. Pomper, the new head of the Johns Hopkins University's ROTC unit - where about 20 UMBC cadets now train - said the public college's "chances are extremely good" because of a nationwide expansion of ROTC programs by a military stretched thin by the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Hrabowski's decision was welcomed by current UMBC cadets, who have to commute about 13 miles to Charles Village for physical training and course work and who say cohort morale and recruitment will be enhanced by a campus home.
"There will be greater pride, greater interaction between all the cadets," said Daniel Ingram, 21, a rising senior from Davidsonville who hopes to become a helicopter combat pilot when he graduates. The commute to Hopkins has been a "hassle," Ingram said. "But the worst part is that I have to go somewhere else to be part of something that I like to do."
As it has on other campuses, opposition to the ROTC unit at Catonsville focused in large part on the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which critics say is in conflict with UMBC's own nondiscrimination policy. Yesterday, Hrabowski said he disagrees with the military's refusal to allow gay men and lesbians to serve openly, and Provost Art Johnson said the administration will craft a formal statement articulating UMBC's position on the issue.
Hrabowski said he hopes a closer relationship with the military will allow the university to contribute to the debate on gays in the military. "When we're working to help prepare leaders, we have the opportunity to express our opinions and to have them heard," he said.
