Samuel Alito '72, President Bush's nominee to replace Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court, signed up for on-campus ROTC while a student at the University to avoid the possibility that he might be drafted for immediate service in Vietnam.
Alito's number was low: 32, according to U.S. Selective Service records. Joining Army ROTC relieved Alito of any immediate active duty obligation, postponing the possibility of service until after graduation.
"Essentially, dates were drawn from a basket and on one night you knew what your lottery number was," explained Charles Howard '72, who was also in ROTC. "If you have had a number less than 100 or 150, it was likely that you would get drafted. If you had a lottery higher than that, it was likely that you wouldn't get drafted."
Mark Dwyer '72, who was Alito's roommate for three years at Yale Law School, contends that Alito's decision to join ROTC was more about "making the best" of his situation than about evading the draft.
"Most anybody would prefer to go in as an officer," Dwyer said, "and I think Sam just made a very rational decision that if he was going to go into the Army, he was going to do it through ROTC."
Feeling like "deer in the headlights," most other students with low lottery numbers "kind of wished for the best and didn't plan or do anything," Dwyer added. "Sam obviously took concrete action to figure out what he was going to do."
Politics professor emeritus Walter Murphy, who served as Alito's thesis adviser, disagreed sharply with any suggestion that Alito joined ROTC to avoid serving in Vietnam.
"The idea that Sam would dodge military service if he were called up strikes me as totally incongruent with everything about him," Murphy said in an interview. "At 20 years old, he was obviously one of the most righteous people you'd ever know. That he would prefer to go as an officer — who wouldn't?"
Alito was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army after graduating in 1972.
He was on active duty from September to December 1975, after graduation from Yale. He was honorably discharged from the Army Reserves with the rank of captain in 1980.
Read More
Lil Tecca to headline spring Lawnparties, Weatherboy will open
Alena ZhangThe rapper’s mainstage performance will kick off at 3:15 p.m. at Frist North Lawn. Student rock band Weatherboy, which was set to open last semester but was unable due to weather conditions, will open at 2:30 p.m.
The rapper’s mainstage performance will kick off at 3:15 p.m. at Frist North Lawn. Student rock band Weatherboy, which was set to open last semester but was unable due to weather conditions, will open at 2:30 p.m.
Two officers terminated in first consequential DPS disciplinary report
Isabel YipPublic Safety’s 2023 Major Disciplinary Action Report listed disciplinary actions against three officers, including two terminations and one suspension, for the first time since the report’s introduction in 2021.
Public Safety’s 2023 Major Disciplinary Action Report listed disciplinary actions against three officers, including two terminations and one suspension, for the first time since the report’s introduction in 2021.
Postdocs set to vote on unionization in May
Victoria DaviesPrinceton postdoctoral researchers are set to vote on unionization on May 8 and 9, following an election agreement with the University. This comes after Princeton University Postdocs and Scholars (PUPS) announced that over 65 percent of postdocs had signed union cards.
Princeton postdoctoral researchers are set to vote on unionization on May 8 and 9, following an election agreement with the University. This comes after Princeton University Postdocs and Scholars (PUPS) announced that over 65 percent of postdocs had signed union cards.
