US Sen. Brian Schatz helped secure $1.1 million for for a first-ever Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps program at the University of Hawai‘i 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 Hawai‘i 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 Hawai‘i,” said Schatz, lead Democrat on the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee.
Schatz met with Navy Secretary Richard Spencer earlier this year and urged him to use additional congressional funding for the Navy’s ROTC program to establish a unit at UH. Schatz reminded Spencer that senior Navy leaders in Hawai‘i have long spoken to the university’s potential to commission a significant number of high-quality cadets with critical language and technical skills from among an ethnically and racially diverse student body that will help the Navy strengthen its diversity and representation of the state.
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As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Schatz worked with committee colleagues to secure the new funding for the UH program.
The new Navy ROTC program will train students to become commissioned officers and enable more Hawai‘i students to attend college and serve their country.
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