ROTC in the Coeducation Era

ROTC cadets exercising outside of Bauer Center.

Emerging out of the war era and backed by the majority of faculty, students, and trustees through the times of student unrest, the ROTC program gained strength throughout the 1970s, even after the cessation of hostilities in Vietnam and the end of the draft. ROTC became increasingly a matter of free choice for students desiring personal growth, career opportunities, exposure to the military, or the chance to win an Army commission. As in the past, the ROTC program continued to offer distinctive bonding for its participants and CMC, was attractive to the kind of young men (and soon women) considering a career in the Army.

An ROTC cadet rappels down the exterior of Bauer Center.

An ROTC cadet demonstrates how to properly handle a .45 caliber pistol during a training course.

ROTC cadets during a commissioning ceremony.

The ROTC color guard with Bauer Center North in the background.

President Jack Stark, PMS LTC John Giboney, and Larry Brisky ’78.

The opportunity to pursue a career in the military attracted Larry Brisky '78 to CMC. An ROTC battalion commander and Cadet Lieutenant Colonel, Brisky graduated in May 1978 with honors in ROTC, philosophy, and history. A former enlisted man in the Army Security Agency, holder of the Legion of Valor and the Bronze Cross, Brisky had won one of fifty coveted Enlisted Man ROTC scholarships. At his graduation and commissioning, the history and philosophy departments, together with ROTC, jointly named him their most outstanding student.

Throughout the decade, ROTC did not merely survive at CMC, it went on the offensive. On October 28, 1978 Captain James Bush P’96, assistant professor of military science, wrote a nationally recognized essay on the values of the ROTC program in terms of character formation and executive experience either for those wishing to make the military a career or for those heading into leadership roles in civilian life. By that time, CMC ranked alongside MIT and Princeton in per-capita students on ROTC scholarships and following the College’s decision to become a coeducational institution, 17 percent of the CMC students participating in ROTC were women by the fall of 1978.

By the 1970s, women played an increasingly larger role in Claremont’s ROTC program.

As opportunities for women in the military increased, Claremont’s ROTC program became a viable option for many women students.

On June 6, 1976, Cathy Robertus, a Cal Poly, Pomona graduate, was the first woman to be commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S Army by the ROTC Department of the Claremont Colleges.

Male and female ROTC cadets receive inspection by their drill instructor, 1980.

CMC Women in the ROTC

Deborah Hasty '78

Deborah Hasty ’78 at the ROTC Commissioning Ceremony. Hasty was CMC’s first woman student to receive ROTC commissioning honors.

Miemie (Winn) Byrd '89

Miemie (Winn) Byrd ‘89 was commissioned into the U.S. Army in 1989 and went on to serve for 28 years before retiring with a rank of lieutenant colonel. Byrd joined the Asian-Pacific Center for Security Studies in 2007.

Marisa E. Walter '98

Marisa E. Walter ‘98 received an ROTC scholarship and was commissioned in 1998 before serving for two years as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army. Here, Walter stands with CMC Professor of Military Science, Kevin Arnold P’10.

Lindsay Burton '19

Lindsay Burton was commissioned into the U.S. Army in 2019. Read about her experiences in the ROTC program and as a student at CMC here.

Claremont’s ROTC program became renowned for career opportunities in the military offered to both men and women.

By the end of the decade, ROTC had significantly diversified its program–offering full scholarships and options of four-year, three-year, and two-year programs (involving two summer camps instead of one, as previously offered). There was also a program for veterans with enlisted service and a program run in conjunction with the Army Reserve and California National Guard. Students in the advanced program and selected students in the four-year program received academic scholarships and a living allowance, which allowed them to work their way through CMC as ROTC cadets. Impressed by the number of career officers it was gaining through ROTC, the Department of the Army had inaugurated this scholarship program to ensure a steady flow of college-trained officers. In the CMC commissioning class of 1980, eleven CMC graduates applied for and received regular Army commissions.