The 1895 Student Petition Against Mandatory Military Drill
Two-thirds of the male students at the University of Washington signed a petition asking the legislature to abolish compulsory military drill in state schools.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
A petition to the legislature asking for the abolishment of compulsory military drill in the state schools of Washington was circulated last Friday and signed by two-thirds of the male students. The popularity or acceptability of this form of drill has been a matter of dispute among the students for some time, and it is thought the number of signers effectually disposes of the alleged love of the cadets for compulsory drill.
A room has been fitted up in the N. G. W. Armory for a gymnasium, in which the cadets will hereafter keep their munitions of war. This will allow the use of the guns on rainy days, and the Armory will be used for drilling more often than formerly.
“A petition to the legislature asking for the abolishment of compulsory military drill in the state schools of Washington was circulated last Friday and signed by two-thirds of the male students.”
Long before today's fights over ROTC, military recruiting and campus speech, UW students petitioned Olympia to end required drill. The dispute was framed as a question of student choice and public education—arguments that still echo in debates over what universities should require of their students.
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