Our History
Historical Overview: 19th and 20th Centuries
IU Traditions & Army ROTC
Some of biggest and most historic traditions of Indiana University have ties to the ROTC program.
The Marching Hundred
The IU Band became the ROTC Band during the early days. ROTC provided the band uniforms and official university sanction (all the freshmen and sophomores had to be in ROTC anyway). During this time they earned their moniker of “The Marching Hundred.” After WWII they would leave ROTC and become part of the Department of Bands in the Jacobs School of Music.
The Little 500
The Little 500 bicycle race also has military connections. In 1950, Howdy Wilcox, a member of the IU Foundation board, saw students who were likely WWII veterans and ROTC cadets racing bicycles around a residence hall. Howdy’s father had been an Indy 500 driver so the idea for Little 500 was born. Howdy was himself an alum of the IU ROTC program. He served in WWII where he received the Silver Star. He later retired from the Indiana National Guard as a Major General. Howdy is one of the 25 Generals and Admirals known to have connections to IU.
Blazing The Trail
Women in ROTC
In 1966 the Army and Air Force decided to allow women to take ROTC course work. And in 1970, IU became one of only ten institutions that were allowed to commission women officers. Fifty years of slow integration had paid off.
Racially Integrated University & ROTC
Being one of the few racially integrated universities and the only one with a mandatory ROTC program, IU created racially integrated units. This was a year before the Army would begin allowing African Americans to be officers and nearly fifty years before racial integration of the Army except for the wartime SATC program.
Following World War I in 1920, IU culture would again impact the program and allow limited roles for women who wished to participate. Over time, those roles would come to include uniforms, “equivalent” cadet ranks (later just referred to as cadet ranks), and a broad spectrum of responsibilities.
The Golden Book
In the 1890s during the Spanish American War, the Indiana Daily Student began publishing and maintaining a list of students currently serving in the military. This led to a desire to make a list of all IU alumni who had served in the Civil War.
When WWI began, the Registrar and the Alumni Association took responsibility for tracking students and faculty who left to serve in the war. After the war, several rounds of mailings were sent to collect as much information as possible about Alumni service.
In 1932, as part of the Memorial Campaign, these names were enshrined in a permanent book known as The Golden Book. The book listed all the “Sons and Daughters of Indiana University who have fought in the wars of the Republic” with special notes about those who had died in service and was put on display in the Indiana Memorial Union.
When WWII came the book filled quickly. The post war rush left the project shelved for many years. In 2011, the university began digitizing the book and collecting the names of those who have served since WWII.