...ROTC...

The Alumni Council's involvement with ROTC dates back to January 1972 when it called for the Trustees to undertake a study of the possibility of returning military training to the Dartmouth campus. In the fall of 1973 the Trustees created a committee of three alumni - J. Clarence Davies Jr. '34, Richard M. Page '54, and Robert B. Reich '68 - two students, and seven faculty to undertake a "thorough review of the feasibility and desirability of an ROTC program at Dartmouth." With the committee report due at the January Trustee meeting, two members - Davies and Reich - met with the Council to discuss the various options open to the College. They also presented a resolution recommending "that Dartmouth commence conversations with the Department of Defense with the objective of reinstating ROTC" subject to the conditions "that the College maintain control over the academic content, conduct of courses, and civil conduct of students." And further that Dartmouth "have final approval" on personnel selected by the armed forces to teach ROTC courses.

The resolution, which was passed unanimously, will be incorporated in the final report of the ROTC committeee as presented to the Trustees. Commenting on the chances for reinstatement under the conditions of the resolution, Davies, a retired Air Force general, said that the Defense Department was receptive to the basic idea a year ago, but that he didn't know the present attitude in the Pentagon.