Army ROTC students will be able to live on campus in the fall, U. confirms

Students participating in the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) will be able to live on campus in the fall semester and participate in in-person training, while the Air Force and Naval ROTC programs will be fully virtual.

“We have invited Army ROTC students to campus for the fall term to pursue in-person ROTC classes, leadership labs, and physical fitness training,” wrote Deputy University Spokesperson Michael Hotchkiss in a statement to The Daily Princetonian.

Tiger Battalion Commander Carter Gipson ’21 confirmed Hotchkiss’ statement.

“On-campus housing will be available to us until November 25th, at which point our fall in-person training will conclude and students will need to return home,” he said.

Cadets living on campus will have to sign a social contract, according to Gipson, and “adhere to a variety of restrictions and guidelines in order to keep themselves and others healthy.”

He added that Army ROTC students are not required to live on campus, “so cadet leadership and cadre are working to make sure that virtual training options will be available for those cadets.”

Gipson is the ‘Prince’ business team’s former Chief of Staff.

Hotchkiss confirmed that the Air Force and Naval ROTC programs, unlike the Army, will be conducted remotely for the fall semester.

“The Air Force ROTC unit may offer in-person leadership labs later in the semester for cadets who are living locally, but that decision will be made at a later date,” he wrote.

In early July, ROTC students were told that they would “be able to live on campus the whole year.” On Friday, the University announced a complete reversal of its reopening plans, no longer permitting first-year students and juniors to live on campus in the fall semester.

University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 had previously made no mention of ROTC in his message to students, leaving it unclear as to whether ROTC students would still be provided on-campus housing in the fall.