Cal Poly ROTC program to continue operating after U.S. Army said it would close
The U.S. Army announced at the end of June that planned to shut down the ROTC program at Cal Poly by 2027 — but that decision has now been reversed.
According to university spokesperson Matt Lazier, the Army informed the university on Sept. 2 that its ROTC program was safe.
“Cal Poly’s program will continue to operate, as an extension of the program at UCSB, with classes continuing to be offered at Cal Poly,” Lazier told The Tribune in an email.
The Tribune reached out to the Army for more information but received a response that the agency was not responding to media inquiries until after the government shutdown ends.
The Army announced the now-reversed cuts in June.
It said in a news release at the time that the changes were prompted by a reduction in force in the U.S. Army Cadet Command. Cal Poly was one of 10 host campuses whose ROTC programs were to be shuttered.
But now, the Army has said it will continue to support ROTC programs at nine of those campuses, Inside Higher Ed reported in September.
According to that report, the nine programs will be merged with larger operations at nearby campuses — UC Santa Barbara for Cal Poly — but students will not have to transfer.
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