You can honor and support ROTC students at Ohio University

May is Military Appreciation Month, and with that, we want to honor and support our ROTC students. Your gift will support upcoming military leaders in the Bobcat Community.

ROTC Students receive financial support through their line of service, whether in the Army or the Air Force. Currently, that funding leaves a gap in covering the cost of the student experience, leaving out things like housing, lab fees, and books.

Funds from this crowdfunding campaign will allow the University to award scholarships to students in need. Help OHIO bridge the gap for students in need and give these Bobcat cadets a fighting chance at beating college debt.  

Students who worry less about affording their major program can focus more on their grades — allowing them to focus heavily on what matters most is their college education and looking forward to serving their country.

Giving Ideas

• $19.36 – in honor of the founding year of the Army ROTC program at Ohio University
• $19.48 – in honor of the founding year of the Air Force ROTC (Bobcat Wing) at Ohio University
• $145 – for the 145 Air Force ROTC detachments across the United States
• $275 – for the 275+ Army ROTC detachments across the United States

Quick Program Facts

Army ROTC

• OHIO's Army ROTC provides a robust training program, considered one of the best in the nation. Nationally, about 40 percent of Army ROTC Cadets go on to earn an Active Duty commission after graduation from college, but 60-70 percent of Bobcat Battalion graduates typically go on to become Active Duty Officers when they graduate from OHIO.
• Today, the program boasts more than 130 cadets with an average graduation of 23 per year (far above similarly sized public schools). The Army leans on this program to help achieve its commissioning mission each year. A large percentage of each Senior Commissioning Class is designated as Distinguished Military Graduates. This means OHIO cadets consistently graduate in the top 20 percent of all AROTC cadets in the nation.
• The Bobcat Battalion won the 2017 McArthur Award for being one of the top eight ROTC programs out of 275 programs in the United States. Plus, cadets in the Bobcat Battalion Army ROTC Ranger Challenge Team have demonstrated their military knowledge, physical abilities, and mental agility by earning third place at the Bold Warrior Challenge at Fort Knox, Kentucky each year for the past three years.

Air Force ROTC

• Detachment 650 is a proud organization with a rich history that has grown into a top of the line AFROTC detachment. We are dedicated to molding and guiding quality, respectable and responsible second lieutenants and civilians. The detachment is geared towards helping others do their very best. Excellence in all we do-- one of the USAF Core Values--certainly hits home for the cadre at the Detachment. We provide a program that will push you to achieve your goals while getting involved in the community, making new friends, learning new skills and turning you into an excellent officer in the world's best Air Force.
• The program focuses on teaching college students the skills they'll need to become successful Company Grade Officers (CGOs) in the USAF. We do this by instilling a broad set of personal, professional, leadership, and managerial skills into each cadet throughout their three to four years in the program. These skills are developed through academic, hands-on experience, and mentorship. Every cadet is held to a high standard as a future officer and is challenged to continuously push themselves in order to stimulate personal growth throughout the breadth of their cadet careers.
• Recently named the #1 small detachment in the northeast region. 
• Last year the detachment graduated 12 cadets, which is the largest graduating group in over eleven years, and recently welcomed the largest and most diverse class in over six years. 

Your Support

Your gift will help to support future military leaders from the Bobcat Community. Here are 5 things alumni, friends, and parents can do to support the future of ROTC success at Ohio University:

• Make a gift today.
• Share this campaign on your socials.
• Mail a check (payable to The Ohio University Foundation) to The Ohio University Foundation, PO Box 869, Athens, OH 45701; be sure to write the name of the ROTC fund on the memo line.
• If you want to explore making a charitable gift to this campaign with a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) from your Individual Retirement Account (IRA), giving via a Donor Advised Fund or stock transfer, please reach out to Nick Belt.
• Did you know that many employers sponsor matching gift programs to match charitable contributions made by their employees? Your employer may double or even triple your impact by matching your gift to OHIO and the Army or Air Force ROTC Program. See if your employer has program by using the Employer Matching Gifts search tool!