GROTON, Conn. – For the first time in 40 years, students from a Naval Reserve Officers’ Training Corps unit are among the freshmen arriving at Yale University.
The appearance of midshipmen for classes beginning Wednesday is also leading to new ties with the naval submarine base 50 miles up the shoreline in Groton.
Since the Ivy League school agreed last year to bring back ROTC in the wake of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” repeal, military officials have welcomed Yale faculty members on base tours and taken some for a ride on a nuclear-powered attack submarine.
The commanding officer of the base, Capt. Marc Denno, said in an interview that he hopes to develop an even tighter relationship and perhaps inspire Yale-educated officers to pursue careers in the submarine force.
“The synergy is obvious and necessary,” said Denno, who noted that Yale now has the only Naval ROTC program in Connecticut. “We’re pretty excited about it.”
Eleven Yale undergraduates, including one sophomore, are enrolled in the Naval ROTC unit.
The Air Force and the Navy are both opening ROTC detachments this fall at Yale, which welcomed them back after Congress voted to allow gays to serve openly in the military. A Yale ribbon-cutting ceremony for ROTC involving military and university officials is planned for Sept. 21.
