Sound On, Sound Off: ROTC Cadences Silenced

Joey Steinberg
Staff Reporter

Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday the R.O.T.C cadets of McDaniel College have Physical Training. Most of us wake up between 5:30 and 6:00 in the morning to get ready. After an intensive work out we usually run.

We run on the track.

We run around the school.

We run around town.

We run, but we don’t talk.

As some of you remember, at the beginning of the year we used to sing. In the Army, we call these cadences. These cadences are meant to motivate us to what to keep working out and getting in better shape. They build camaraderie and teamwork, which is extremely important in the Army.

With titles like “Me and Superman Got into a Fight” to “Down By The River,” these cadences have motivated ROTCS runners since the program came to campus in 1919, according to the Battalion Overview on the college’s website.
Each cadence has a different theme. Some themes are met to make us laugh. Some themes are meant to make us proud.

Most people don’t appreciate being woken up to the beautiful voices of our cadets. Complaints rolled in for years: complaints to ROTC leaders, complaints to the college president, complaints to Campus Safety. There have been stories told of water balloons being rocketed towards our cadets.

This year students took the defense a little more democratically and wrote letters.

Quiet hours on campus, according the college handbook, fall between 10 p.m. through 10 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 1:00 a.m. through 10 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

Many ROTC runs fell into those hours.

“We’re not in the business of irritating folks and we were getting a lot of calls,” explained Professor William “Sean” Schumaker, military science chair.

Last semester the cadence tradition ended when President Joan Develin Coley notified Schumaker that ROTC cadences had to end because they conflicted with the college’s policy about quiet hours.

The college has asked R.O.T.C to stop the singing.

And stopped they have.

Spencer Brown, a freshmen cadet, explains to me how “boring” the runs have become. He states that the cadences made the morning runs “fun.”

“It’s less motivating when we run,” Schumaker said. “But the cadences were not in line with the college policy. President Coley had been turning a blind eye ? we understand the college’s policy.”

“Cadences are part of the army lifestyle and we miss them,” said Jose Flores, chief instructor, Military Science. “But we understand why the change happened. We are essentially visitors here on campus, so we oblige.”

Maybe it’s just me, but I think the cadets deserve the right to sing their cadences. I think the cadets should enjoy morning runs. I think the cadets should be able to shower the campus in pride for what they are doing.

After all, Greek life breaks the policy as well. They march around singing their cadences to show pride in the Sororities. The policy should be equal for all; right now it is not. Whether at 6 in the morning or 12 at night, it’s Quiet Hours here on campus for all.

The next time you are up at 6 in the morning finding the strength to get out of bed, think about the cadets who are finding the strength to take the next step ? without cadences to move them.

(Writer’s note: I am a rookie reporter and I co-wrote this piece with Lisa Breslin.)