For the first time in more than four decades, Princeton University will bring the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) back to its campus, The Associated Press reported.
The Ivy League institution announced Thursday that it is working with the United States Navy to revive the NROTC program at its school in the upcoming fall semester.
"We are very pleased to be able to provide our students with the opportunity to participate in Naval ROTC," Princeton University President Christopher L. Eisgruber said in a statement. "I have heard from many alumni about how important this program was in their lives. I am glad that this generation of students will have access to the kinds of training that the program provides and to the kinds of leadership positions for which it will prepare them."
The revived program is a crosstown agreement between Princeton, Rutgers University and the Navy, the university said in a news release. NROTC active duty Navy and Marine Corps instructors will lead and teach Princeton NROTC midshipmen on the Rutgers or Princeton campus, giving students the opportunity to earn a commission in the United States naval service.
The NROTC program was initially established in 1945 at the university. It remained active until it was ended during the Vietnam War in 1971, Campus Reform reported
When the program is re-established in the fall, it will be the first time the university has had a Navy ROTC in over forty years.
In addition to the NROTC program, Princeton has offered an Army ROTC program since 1919, which now includes cadets from The College of New Jersey, Rider University and Rowan University, and offers an Air Force ROTC program through a crosstown agreement with Rutgers University.
