Starting next fall, students in both the Army and Air Force ROTC programs will have a new option for living on campus.
The Army and Air Force ROTC programs at the University are working with Residential Life to make rooms available in Highland Hall to begin a new “living-learning program” for ROTC students, said Todd Clark, associate director of Residential Life.
“The idea is to put students together who have a common bond, so they can share experiences,” said Lt. Col. Gregory Johnson of the Army ROTC.
Johnson said although the program will be for ROTC cadets, it will not go beyond what a student in a residential college would experience.
“This is a very new program for us,” said Air Force ROTC Col. Tom Poulos. “We’re very interested in allowing students to live together and share a common interest.”
The cadets will make close friends, develop relationships and have experiences they may not have had otherwise, Johnson said.
“It will improve camaraderie and, as we are able to put in some of the other benefits, it will become more of a community feeling,” he said.
The residential assistants for the “living-learning program” will go through the same selection process and be subjected to the same criteria as with any other residential college, Johnson said. They also will be given the same responsibilities as other RAs, he said.
The benefit is these RAs can come straight from the Army and Air Force ROTC divisions, Johnson said.
Clark said both Air Force and Army cadets will live together on the same floor, but floors will be divided up according to sex.
While there are only about 18 cadets committed to the residential college, those leading the program think the idea will spread quickly around the ROTC community, Clark said.
“I think once the concept catches on, people will begin to enjoy living in the same area,” Johnson said.
Johnson said there are both males and females interested in the program.
“I think after cadets see one class going through, they will get interested too,” Clark said.
The greatest interest comes from those students in the Air Force ROTC, Johnson said.
The reason for this, he said, is the Air Force ROTC has a larger number of students on scholarship and therefore committed to the ROTC program.
Capt. Michael Moran of the Army ROTC at LSU said he thinks the program will help cadets become better officers and enhance their education overall.
“Any time you get a group of students together in one environment, it facilitates the entire learning experience,” Moran said. “It gives them a very good chance to become involved.”