Hawaiʻi U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz has secured $1.1 million for a first-ever Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. The funding was included in the bipartisan spending deal signed into law by the president this month.
“This new ROTC program at UH will give more Hawaiʻi students a chance at earning scholarships and gaining an education, while helping the Navy strengthen its diversity to make sure its officers better reflect the American public and our values in Hawaiʻi,” said Senator Schatz.
Senior Navy leaders in Hawaiʻi have long spoken to the university about the potential to foster a significant number of high-quality cadets with critical language and technical skills among an ethnically and racially diverse student body, according to a December 30 news release from the senatorʻs office.
Schatz met with the former Navy Secretary and urged him to use additional congressional funding for the establishment of a Naval ROTC unit at UH Mānoa. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Schatz worked with committee colleagues to secure the new funding for the UH Mānoa program.
The new Naval ROTC program will train students to become commissioned officers and enable more Hawaiʻi students to attend college and serve their country.
—Based on a U.S. Senate press release
