Time and time again, I have heard people placing judgment on fellow students that choose to join the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC). This is something I have heard in discussions myself, and have heard members of the ROTC speak about, saying they have felt judged for being in the program. These judgments often come in the form of theorizing why people choose to join such a program, essentially assigning their moral values for them. This has included saying that choosing to do so implies some inherent bloodlust or that the individual must be a member of the conservative party or a Trump supporter. I am not here for the political or moral debate that comes with the discussion of the military, but rather to say that many join the ROTC for the practical ways in which it may help their lives.

This sort of blind damnation of members of the ROTC is just blatantly elitist. One of the biggest draws of the ROTC is the fact that they can cover your tuition and provide a monthly living stipend while you are in school. This makes it a viable option for people from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds that may struggle to find a way to afford college otherwise. I come from such a background; both my brother and father relied on the military to send them through college. I may have had to do the same; however, I was fortunate enough to obtain tuition assistance elsewhere.

Of course, this assistance comes at a price, most often requiring at least four years of full-time military service. This does not mean individuals that choose to participate in the ROTC will spend their time toting guns and killing people, nor am I willing to defend the violence and brutality of war. Most often they will simply go and work in their major, never seeing or adding to any actual violence. For example, I want to be a therapist and will need to go on to graduate school to do so. If I chose to go through the military, they could potentially help with the cost and my service with them would simply be being a therapist for soldiers and their families. This brings me to my final point: a guaranteed career, something most of us can only dream of. Once one finishes their time with the military, they are free of loans and have a well-padded resume.

In a perfect world, people would not need to join the military to afford an education or to make ends meet. College should not be so impossibly expensive, but for now, it is. Judging people for joining the ROTC, labeling them as murderers or as lacking morality, is elitist. It is failing to realize that not everyone can afford to go to college or has the connections and the guidance to find other scholarships to avoid the military. I do not mean for this piece to read as some recruiter’s pitch. I understand being frustrated that the system we live in makes this the only option for some, however, there is nothing but harm in ostracizing people who have to rely on the military for an education.