During the 1960’s there were thousands of California college students who were opposed to the Vietnam War, and there were lots of student protests against the R.O.T.C. at Stanford. In 1968 the war in Vietnam was at the a peak, and a few months after the Tet Offensive there was an incident at Stanford where the Navy R.O.T.C. building was set on fire by some arsonists. After this fire occurred, things started to go downhill for the R.O.T.C. at Stanford as the Faculty Senate determined that they would stop giving credit for the courses. Then the Air Force, Army, and Navy all abandoned Stanford for R.O.T.C. by 1973 and they have not had a program on campus since that date. However there are still students that attend Stanford who are in an R.O.T.C. program, they just have to commute to one of the nearby California colleges or universities that still offer the program.
This is why a couple Stanford professors are making the case to bring back the R.O.T.C. program to the California university. Stanford has discussed bringing back the program for the last few years, but this recent push is the first official movement that has been seen. It has been over 35 years since the programs left Stanford, and things have changed drastically in terms of war and the draft in the United States. After Stanford professors presented their case to bring back the R.O.T.C. program, it was decided by the Faculty Senate to form a committee to further investigate the possibility of R.O.T.C. returning to campus. Results from their research will be out next year, so until then students will have to continue to commute to the neighboring California universities and colleges for their R.O.T.C. needs.
Tags: California Colleges, California Universities, ROTC, Stanford
