Bowie State University (BSU) has been awarded the MacArthur Award, which recognizes the program as one of the best in the nation. A first for BSU, the university’s ROTC program was selected by the U.S. Army Cadet Command out of 37 other schools in the 4th Brigade, including ROTC programs in West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
“This award is a testament to the years of hard work and cooperation between the cadets, ROTC staff and the university to elevate the BSU ROTC program from a small, developing program into one of the best in the nation,” said Lt. Col. Wesley Knight, chair of the BSU Department of Military Science.
Winners are selected based on several factors: the school’s commissioning mission, its cadets’ performance and standing on the command’s National Order of Merit List and its cadet retention rate. Other than BSU, the most recent HBCU to receive the award was Morgan State University in 2001.
“We are immensely proud of all our Bulldog Battalion cadets and their accomplishments under the leadership of Lt. Col. Knight to achieve recognition as MacArthur Award recipients,” said BSU President Aminta H. Breaux. “Our cadets continue to set a high standard in leadership and academic leadership on our campus. We are proud to have the support of educators, community members, and public officials as we continue preparing these officers for their service to the nation.”
Maj. Gen. John Evans, commander of the U.S. Army Cadet Command and Fort Knox, said the recipients exemplify the ethos behind the ROTC motto of “leadership excellence” and embody the legacy of leadership as practiced by Gen. Douglas MacArthur.
“Being named a MacArthur Award winner acknowledges that these programs are going above and beyond to train the next generation of Army officers,” Evans said.
