The Reserve Officers’ Training Corps at Creighton University is called the Blackwolves Battalion and is a compilation of students from Creighton and the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
The name “Blackwolves” comes from St. Ignatius of Loyola’s family coat of arms – the same Ignatius who laid his sword and armor in front of the Virgin Mary to protest his life as a soldier, the same Ignatius who started the Society of Jesus that strives for “faith that does justice.”
There is an inherent tension that Jesuit universities face when ROTC programs are allowed on campus.
The Creighton University mission statement says that the university strives to uphold a Jesuit tradition: being women and men for others, which includes “sharing gifts, pursuing justice and having concern for the poor and marginalized.”
Although both military training and Jesuit social teaching involve the individual serving for a greater good, arming a country to accomplish a foreign policy objective should not be confused with striving for peace and justice.
In an institution that tries to instill Gospel principles, we should ask, “Where does the Gospel encourage Christians to take up arms to accomplish their goals?”
Advocates of the ROTC program claim that Jesuit universities can “Christianize” the military by planting Christians into leadership positions.
This justification ignores the hierarchal structure of the military. Even with a Creighton education, a lieutenant will not be able to change a pervasive history, which in my view, is sexist, racist and homophobic, not to mention one that includes recruiting practices that target the lower classes.
Another claim emphasizes the practicality of the ROTC – how the program allows more students access to a Jesuit education. This ignores Creighton’s definition of an undergraduate education as a totality, encompassing all parts of students’ lives.
Our mission statement says a Creighton education is “directed to the intellectual, social, spiritual, physical and recreational aspects of students’ lives and to the promotion of justice.”
When ROTC instructors are chosen by the Defense Department, the university has limited control of the curriculum. There is a reason “Nuclear, Biochemical and Chemical Warfare” is not in the Arts & Sciences’ core.
More importantly, a Creighton education is more than just a price tag or even a series of classes. It seeks to instill Jesuit ideals in all students, yet the presence of an ROTC program on campus sends a conflicting message.
I ask our president, the Rev. John P. Schlegel, S.J., to create a committee consisting of faculty, students and Jesuits. Since Creighton is a mission-driven school, the committee should assess whether the ROTC program executes the university’s mission.
I would make three suggestions to the committee and to the administration. First, the university should provide other scholarship information to students wishing to join the program. At times, students join the ROTC when it is a last choice for a full scholarship.
Second, the administration should require ROTC students to take nine credits of Peace and Justice Studies.
Last, Creighton should offer conscientious objector scholarships to ROTC students who want to change their decision after being influenced by the Catholic social teaching, without leaving Creighton having $100,000 of debt.
These suggestions are not meant to attack ROTC students, the war in Iraq or the military as a whole. However, they will ensure the fulfillment of Creighton’s mission statement in one program offered by the university.