Middlebury College and the Military Draft

Author: Caroline Stauffer

If the United States were to engage in war with Iraq, it would be the first time in history that the United States has entered a conflict of a size comparable to World War II or Vietnam without a draft. However, on Jan. 7, U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) introduced a bill to the House of Representatives to reinstate the draft and establish "Universal National Service."

Rangel has previously voted against invading Iraq, and said, "that if those calling for war knew that their children were likely to be required to serve... there would be more caution and a greater willingness to work with the international community in dealing with Iraq," in an article from the Center on Conscience and War. According to Rangel, only one member of Congress has a child in the military's enlisted ranks, and the draft would "level the playing field."

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has spoken openly against reinstating the draft, which proved so unpopular during the Vietnam conflict that it was abolished in 1973.

According to an article by Mark Shields from CNN.com, Rumsfeld believes that the country's all-volunteer military is adequate for the potential conflict.

After graduating from Princeton in 1954, Rumsfeld responded to his draft call by serving three years on active duty as a Navy aviator. In that year, two out of every three of his classmates went into the military.

A grand total of two members of the Princeton class of 2001 became officers in the military.

A Middlebury College history professor dismissed the possibility of reinstating the draft. "I do not see many in Congress wanting to debate a draft," said Fletcher D. Proctor Professor of American History Travis Jacobs.

While many believe Rangel proposed his bill with no intention of it passing, he has successfully ignited discussion on who will fight the proposed war.

"Rep. Rangel's bill to reinstate the draft was introduced knowing full well that it would never pass, but it should be sent as a sign that young people today are not immune from the world's conflicts and the decisions that this nation's leaders make," said Ben LaBolt '03, President of the College Democrats.

"It's about time they get their act in gear and start voting to protect their interests before they are shipped off to a war they don't believe is just or necessary," LaBolt continued.

If a draft were reinstated, it would not be the first time Middlebury College students were called to serve in the military. Students at the Collegehave reacted strongly to the last two major conflicts the U.S. was involved in.

According to David M. Stameshkin's book, "The Strength of the Hills," in September 1942 the male enrollment at the College was 352. By May of the same academic year, the male enrollment had dropped to 74 and the U.S. Navy had a year-round V-12 officer-training unit on campus.

In 1952 the army established a Reserve Officer's Training Corps (ROTC) program at the College. Then President Samuel Somerville Stratton believed an ROTC program at Middlebury would stabilize enrollment during the Korean War.

Between 1952 and 1969 Middlebury produced 623 commissioned officers. By the 1960s, however, students were expressing disapproval of the program.

"Certainly [the ROTC program's] relevance to a war rooted in an irrational and vicious foreign policy should make startlingly clear the need to define the relationship of the College to an organization which implements that foreign policy," stated The Middlebury Campus editorial on Mar. 7, 1966.

The ROTC program began operating on a volunteer basis in 1966, and was discontinued due to lack of interest in 1976.

Opposition to the ROTC movement coincided with a particularly active time for students, the late 60s. This was a time when students across the nation were rallying against the draft and the war in Southeast Asia.

In October of 1967, three Middlebury students were arrested at the Pentagon in Arlington, Va, for demonstrating against the Vietnam War after a deadline set by a Washington issued permit.

Eric Kolvig, Andrew Weinstein and Lassie Dudley were part of an all-Saturday-night vigil with other Middlebury students, but chose to continue protesting on Sunday. The three were fined and released the next day.

Protests against the draft reached a height at Middlebury College during 1970, after the United States invaded Cambodia and National Guard members killed four Kent State University students.

Protests at Middlebury College took place on the evening of May 5 in reaction to these events.

In response to a petition and the protests, the College Council voted to suspend normal activities from May 5 to May 11.

Students and faculty formed a "strike committee" to align the College with protest movements across the nation.

A few weeks after the strike, an ROTC classroom was vandalized. Middlebury students participated in May Day demonstrations in Washington in 1951.

The focus at Middlebury during the Vietnam War seemed to be on protesting the war effort, but an unknown number, most likely small, went to war.

Four students and alums, including Alton Bassett '53, Richard Rosbeck '61, John Rossler '66 and A. Bayard Russ '66 are recognized as Vietnam War casualties according to "The College on the Hill."

Although Congress is not ready to reinstate the draft, Rangel's proposal has served as a reminder to the Middlebury College community that as in the past, students are vulnerable to the repercussion of international conflicts.