ROTC at Other Colleges
Despite their heightened sense of purpose and pride, though, Harvard students must contend with the fact that ROTC has a much better relationship with other college campuses.
Joseph A. Giannone, a Tufts senior in Army ROTC, says that even though the presence of ROTC is "minimal" on the Tufts campus, the atmosphere is "more accepting" than at Harvard.
It is that acceptance, many cadets and midshipmen say, that ROTC students seek to gain on the Harvard campus. And one ROTC student in particular has become acutely aware of that struggle.
"There is a disconcerting feeling...of not being accepted by my peers at Harvard," Coleman says. "It's made it hard."
"I envy those students at Cornell where the ROTC program is highly embraced," says Coleman. "When I saw the real sense of support [there], I said, `Wouldn't I just love to have this kind of encouragement, this kind of support?'
"I'm very envious...very, very envious," Coleman says.