Harvard ROTC

---

title: "Harvard ROTC" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["rotc-programs-in-the-united-states", "harvard-university"] topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_ROTC" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox military unit"]

Field	Value
unit_name	Harvard ROTC
image	Harvard Crimson logo.svg
image_size	150px
country	United States of America
allegiance	United States Navy, United States Army
dates	Founded in 1916
specialization	Officer Training
garrison	Cambridge, Massachusetts
identification_symbol_label	Distinctive Unit Insignia
::

|unit_name=Harvard ROTC |image=Harvard Crimson logo.svg |image_size=150px |caption= |country=United States of America |allegiance= United States Navy, United States Army |branch= |dates= Founded in 1916 |specialization= Officer Training |current_commander= |garrison=Cambridge, Massachusetts |ceremonial_chief= |nickname= |motto= |colors= |march= |mascot= |battles= |anniversaries= |identification_symbol= |identification_symbol_label=Distinctive Unit Insignia

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Harvard-ROTC-Bayonet.jpg" caption="Bayonet Drill, Harvard ROTC at Stadium, 1917-1918"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/Harvard_University_Boys_Military_Drill.jpg" caption="Military drill in 1916"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/US_Navy_110304-N-5549O-204_Secretary_of_the_Navy_(SECNAV)_the_Honorable_Ray_Mabus,_left,_and_Harvard_President_Drew_Faust_sign_a_Memorandum_of_Agre.jpg" caption="Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) the Honorable Ray Mabus, left, and Harvard President Drew Faust sign a Memorandum of Agreement Restoring ROTC to Harvard"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Obama_signs_DADT_repeal.jpg" caption="President Obama signs the repeal of DADT into law."] ::

Harvard ROTC was one of the first Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) units in the country, founded in 1916. The original program was led by Captain Constant Cordier. By the fall of 1952 forty percent of the incoming freshmen class at Harvard University enrolled in programs that led to a ROTC commission.

Harvard has the third most graduates who have received the Medal of Honor. With eighteen recipients, only West Point and the US Naval Academy have more.

In 1969, in the middle of sometimes violent protests over the Vietnam War, Harvard downgraded the status of ROTC to an extracurricular activity. The cited reason was over academic standards on coursework. The military’s official departure from Harvard began in the years that followed. For the next several decades Harvard’s connection to ROTC was by allowing their students to take ROTC courses at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

By 1994, in the midst of the controversy over the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) law on homosexuality, Harvard committed to upholding ROTC ties, but only through indirect alumni contributions. This compromise prevented all ties from being severed as was recommended in the 1992 faculty committee report.

Harvard University President Drew Faust promised a return of ROTC to campus, once DADT was repealed, in a speech with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Admiral Mike Mullen at the Kennedy School of Government on 17 November 2010. In December 2010 Congress passed a bill to repeal President Bill Clinton’s 1993 DADT Policy.

On March 4, 2011, Harvard University President Drew Faust signed an agreement with Navy Secretary Ray Mabus formally recognizing the return of Naval ROTC to Harvard’s campus. According to the agreement's terms, a Director of Naval ROTC would be appointed, and Harvard would provide funding for the program. The Navy agreement was structured to go into effect when the repeal of DADT was implemented, and was followed by a similar agreement with the Army. President Barack Obama, who in his 2011 State of the Union address called on all universities to open their doors to ROTC, responded through his spokesman by saying:

::quote

::

Harvard Medal of Honor recipients

::data[format=table]

Name	Rank	Service	Conflict	School
Manning F. Force	Major General	US Army	American Civil War	Harvard College (1845) and Harvard Law School (1848)
Charles E. Phelps	Brigadier General	US Army	American Civil War	Harvard Law School (1853)
Horace Porter	Brigadier General	US Army	American Civil War	Harvard Lawrence Scientific School (1857)
Richard J. Curran	Major	US Army	American Civil War	Harvard Medical School (1859)
Henry Shippen Huidekoper	Major General	US Army	American Civil War	Harvard College (1862)
Hazard Stevens	Brigadier General	US Army	American Civil War	Harvard College (1865)
Henry W. Lawton	Major General	US Army	American Civil War	Harvard Law School (1866)
Wilmon W. Blackmar	Brigadier General	US Army	American Civil War	Harvard Law School (1867)
Leonard Wood	Major General	US Army	Apache Campaign	Harvard Medical School (1884)
Theodore Roosevelt	Colonel	US Army	Spanish–American War	Harvard College (1880)
Walter Hill	Brigadier General	US Marine Corps	VeraCruz, Mexico	Harvard College (1880)
George G. McMurtry	Major	US Army	World War I	Harvard College (1899)
Charles W. Whittlesey	Lieutenant Colonel	US Army	World War I	Harvard Law School (1908)
Claud A. Jones	Rear Admiral	US Navy	USS Memphis (CA-10) destroyed near Santo Domingo City	Harvard Graduate School of Applied Science (1913)
Pierpont M. Hamilton	Major General	US Air Force	World War II	Harvard College (1920)
Theodore Roosevelt II	Brigadier General	US Army	World War II	Harvard College (1909)
Sherrod E. Skinner	2nd Lieutenant	US Marine Corps	Korean War	Harvard College (1951)
Robert C. Murray	Staff Sergeant	US Army	Vietnam War	Harvard Business School (1970) (Attended but did not graduate.)
::

Notable alumni

• Anthony Brown, Harvard College (1984) and Harvard Law School (1992), U.S. Representative (MD-4) and Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve.
• Eliot A. Cohen, Harvard College (1977) and Harvard University (Ph.D. 1982), Counselor in the U.S. Department of State (2007–2009), Director of the Strategic Studies Program at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of the Johns Hopkins University.
• Paul G. Kirk, Harvard College (1960) and Harvard Law School (1964), Chairman of the Democratic National Committee (1985–1989), U.S. Senator from Massachusetts (2009–2010).

References

References

1. "The Harvard Veterans History Project".
2. "Harvard Crimson 3 January 1916: Captain Cordier in Command".
3. "Harvard Crimson 23 September 1916: Reserve Force Proposed".
4. "Advocates for Harvard ROTC: Medal of Honor Recipients from Harvard University".
5. "What to Do About ROTC: Extract from the Minutes of Special Meeting of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University, February 4, 1969".
6. "Harvard Crimson 12 August 1969: Army Plans to Terminate Harvard ROTC in 1970; Air Force Stays Until '71".
7. "23 June 1971: Letter from the Office of the Chief of Naval Personnel to the Commanding Officer of the Harvard NROTC Unit on its Disestablishment".
8. "2 October 1992: Report of the Harvard University Committee on the Status of ROTC".
9. "Harvard Crimson 1 December 1994: Report Upholds ROTC Tie, But Without Direct Funding".
10. "Harvard Crimson 18 November 2010: Drew Faust Endorses Return of ROTC".
11. "Harvard Crimson 4 March 2011: Harvard Signs Agreement To Officially Recognize Naval ROTC".
12. "Advocates for Harvard ROTC article 4 March 2011: Harvard - Navy ROTC Agreement Signed".
13. "Harvard Crimson 22 March 2012: After 43 Years, Army Welcomed in Harvard Yard Once More".
14. "Advocates for ROTC article 28 March 2012: Harvard Army ROTC Office Opening Ceremony".
15. (25 January 2011). "25 January 2011: Remarks by the President in State of Union Address".
16. "Obama Spokesman Applauds ROTC Return to Harvard".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::