This past Thursday, I was invited by a squad of D.C. ROTC Cadets to one of their morning physical training sessions.???Being a enlisted Iraq veteran who has just returned from his second tour, my ego took a little hit after being beaten by 20 year old cadets during shuttle sprints (of course I patronizingly told them that if I had a college gymnasium to train in, I would be running circles around them).???After the workouts, the platoon leader called the cadets in, and told them that an article had been published in the American University newspaper that they might take offense to.???She told the cadets that while they may have strong feelings on the matter, they were not to criticize the article or respond publicly.??That’s just not what cadets do.
Make sense,?I thought.??Cadets are going to need to learn that discipline to keep their head down and stay focused on the mission, shrugging off praise and criticism alike, even when their first instinct may be to react.??
While the development of military professionalism and humility is a necessary part of the development of a commissioned officer, it comes with the drawback that ROTC cadets may be hampered from engaging in the dialogue necessary to justify their presence on campus when it is called into question by men such as Mr. Shapiro.
Good thing I’m not a cadet.
The practicable issue that this article poses to the students of American University has nothing to do with the concept of reserve officer training, but rather the following:??Are the male and female cadets who already attend American University deserving of the same common respect and dignity as the rest of the students on campus, or should they be ridiculed for their identity????By inferring soldiers are murderers, warmongers and delusional victims, Conor Shapiro makes it absolutely clear that cadets are second class students at American.
Perhaps it is hard to understand how deeply upsetting this rhetoric is to cadets and veterans alike, as our experiences and group culture are different from the non-military student.??The closest way to illustrate how cadets and veterans perceive this article is to humbly ask you, the reader, if you’ve ever been told that because of who you are, and that which you can’t change, you are somehow contemptible.??Being called a killer and warmonger may seem fair game to some, but for soldiers such criticism cuts to the fiber of our being, as it suggests that the service that has become the crucible of our lives will forever alienate us from our civilian brothers and sisters.?
Yet despite the discriminatory rhetoric employed by Mr. Shapiro, let this be absolutely clear:??No matter what our backgrounds may be, and no matter what our futures may hold, together we are American University.??At this school we pride ourselves on diversity not only of being, but also of beliefs, and by extension of this solidarity our differences may serve only to enhance the greater community.??As a student who has served two tours in Iraq, what has struck me most about American was how much I had to learn from students who demonstrated their service in different ways, from those that volunteer in the D.C. community to those brave study abroad students who have witnessed the uprisings in Egypt this past week.??Conor Shapiro would like to imagine American University’s relationship with the military as a binary between idolatry and criticism, praise and scorn.??As members of the military, we have asked for neither, but rather only the common equality and shared kinship with the rest of the student body.
The discussion over whether or not ROTC should be expanded is a legitimate discussion, and faculty and students alike should give serious thought and analysis to the matter.??Mr. Shapiro is by no means required to support the program.??But as with all students at American University, our cadets are owed the reciprocal dignity and respect that makes our school as exceptional as it is.??
John Kamin SPA ‘12 Vice President, AU Vets
