A-ten-hut! The ROTC is back at CUNY.
After an absence of decades from CUNY, its York College in Queens started offering a first-year military science course this fall with 18 students enrolled, officials told The Post.
Next fall, the same class will start at City College of New York in Manhattan, with the Staten Island and Medgar Evers campuses expected to march closely behind.
The ROTC (Reserve Officers’ Training Corps) is a college-based, four-year program to groom commissioned officers to serve in the US armed forces.
CUNY’s most famous ROTC cadet is Colin Powell, former Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He graduated from CCNY at the top of his ROTC class in 1958.
The ROTC got kicked off by CUNY and many colleges nationwide in the late 1960s and early 1970s, a casualty of unrest over the Vietnam War. But it’s making a comeback. Harvard University reinstated it last year, following repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy for gays in the military.
“Columbia and Harvard now offer ROTC. We have students who are interested, and we want them to have the same opportunity,” said CUNY spokesman Michael Arena.
Some CUNY students take ROTC classes at Fordham University.
The nation’s largest urban university promises a vast source of recruits.
“We’d like to develop the market over the next several years,” said Army Lt. Col Maura Gillen.
ROTC cadets, who compete for college scholarships, may contract to serve in the Army, National Guard or Army Reserve.