Naval ROTC Room and Board Scholarship

Program History of Naval ROTC Unit FAMU

Naval ROTC Unit FAMU was commissioned on August 1, 1972, and was the fourth of six NROTC Units to be established on a Historically Black College or University campus (HBCU). Additionally, on January 1, 1983, NROTC Unit FAMU established a cross-town enrollment agreement with Florida State University and Tallahassee Community College. To emphasize the importance of NROTC Unit FAMU at its inception, Commander Benjamin Hacker was selected as the first Commanding Officer. Commander Hacker went on to achieve the two-star rank of Rear Admiral (Upper Half), serving as the Commander of Naval Training Center, San Diego, California before retiring in 1998. In March 1975, Ensign Robert Hill became the Unit’s first commissioned officer. Other significant firsts for the Unit include Ensign Jeffery Yong, the first ECP commissionee in June 1979; Ensign Harold Lomax, the first Nuclear Power Program commissionee in February 1976; Ensign Carol Skiber, the first female Aviation Program commissionee in December 1978; and SSgt Robert Winchester, the first MECEP commissionee in December 1991. Since NROTC Unit FAMU was established, more than 1000 men and women have successfully completed the NROTC Program and have gone on to serve the nation as commissioned officers in the United States Navy and Marine Corps.

Goal

The goal of the FAMU Army ROTC and Naval ROTC scholarship programs is to increase the number of minority commissioned officers with an emphasis on strategic disciplines to meet the ever-changing needs of the United States Armed Forces. The scholarships are awarded annually and reviewed at the end of each semester to determine academic compliance. Each ROTC unit will be allocated a maximum of fifteen (15) room and fifteen (15) board scholarships. This number may be renewed each year as determined by the availability of funding resources.

The scholarship may be renewed each year, contingent upon the commanding officer’s recommendation, satisfactory performance, progress toward the mandated four-year graduation rate and toward completion of the bachelor’s degree.

Both ROTC units agree to actively recruit candidates for their respective FAMU ROTC program from local and state high schools, as well as, Florida State/Community Colleges.

Incoming candidates must meet the following criteria by March 31:

Be a U.S. citizen
Eligible to become a commissioned officer
Have a FAMU or transfer cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better (on a 4.0 scale)
A recipient of the national ROTC scholarship at the time of enrollment, or a recipient of the two-year scholarship at the beginning of the junior year of enrollment.
Enrolled in a program of study that meets the needs of the Armed Services
Demonstrate leadership and community service
Active participant in University extracurricular activities, both on and off campus
Submit an unofficial transcript with the official signature of the executive officer
Submit an electronic application by the deadline
Submit a completed and validated FAFSA no later than January 1 of the relevant academic year