ROTC enrollment increase due to combination of factors, not just increased interest in military after 9-11 terrorist attacks
ROTC cadet Andrea Pratt said she is proud to be a part of the program at TCU and knows it offers her training that will last her a lifetime.
By Emily Turner
Staff Reporter

ROTC enrollment has increased this semester, but the increase is not entirely in response to the terrorist attacks, said Army Maj. Daniel Thiebaud.

“Students are not coming to join ROTC just because of what happened on Sept. 11,” Thiebaud said. “However, they are asking more questions about the program.”

Col. James House said there has been a 15 percent increase in enrollment in the TCU ROTC program due to an abundance of scholarships and an increased interest in ROTC. The Command Cadet headquarters in Fort Monroe, Va., awarded the TCU ROTC program additional scholarship money this year, House said.

“TCU has a very good relationship with the headquarters,” House said. “It is looked at as a respected institution and the Army recognizes this.”

Andrea Pratt, a senior elementary education major and cadet, said she was accepted to 21 of the 23 colleges she applied to. However, Pratt was unable to pay for her education and was willing to serve in the Army as long as ROTC covered the cost of her education.

Pratt said the possibilities ROTC offered were stable so she convinced her husband, Donald Pratt, a senior business/marketing major, to also join the program.

“We met at freshmen orientation,” she said. “He thought ROTC sounded like a good plan.”

Thiebaud said the Bush administration’s emphasis on the military is another encouragement to join ROTC.

“The increase in enrollment has to do with the fact that we now have a pro-military administration in the White House,” he said.

Thiebaud said people are more curious now about the military aspect of the program and the cadets’ activities and duties. National tragedies and wartime continuously unite people, he said.

The struggling economy is another reason interest in the ROTC has increased, Thiebaud said. The program provides a guaranteed job after graduation, he said, and this comforts students.

The Pratts said they have always hoped to be stationed in Germany with the Signal Corps. Andrea said her desire to go overseas and work with computers has not changed since the attacks, but was threatened last year when there was a slim chance she would have to leave TCU before graduation.

“There was a chance I could have gone to Afghanistan,” Pratt said. “For that to happen the Army would have been in desperate need of people.”

Pratt said the fears that were present a year ago have faded away. She remains active in the ROTC program and finds it a resourceful way to acquire skills while receiving a cost-free education.

“If I had to go to college all over again, I would still do ROTC,” Pratt said. “It has taught me so many things.”