Barber: Ready? Yep, go for it. I'm going to be a psych major. Narrator: On a rainy day in August, 371 new recruits arrive at Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont, for day zero of their four-year journey at the historic school. Foxtrot? OK, so you're going to take your first right, right in here, OK? OK, thank you very much. The corporals here are going to help you guys get moved in. Narrator: At 7:45, new students begin arriving on campus with their parents. You're going to go up the stairs, take a left. Narrator: They're met by a team of upperclassmen, known as cadre, who assist them in unloading vehicles and transporting their belongings to their dorm rooms. Cadre: We want them to relax as much as possible now because in a couple hours it's going to be a very stressful environment.

so it's good for them to relax as much as possible before their stress levels go through the roof. Narrator: The new students check in ... S-H-E-P-P-A-R-D. Narrator: ... some smoother than others. Narrator: It wasn't. Narrator: On the third try, recruit Sheppard was able to get into his dorm room. It's good, it's good. It feels really good. You know, I've been waiting for this, honestly. Something new, something to experience. Narrator: At Norwich University, tuition is about $47,000 a year, with an additional $15,000 for room and board for students who live on campus. Cadre: Bishop? Bishop: Here. Narrator: First-year students at Norwich are referred to as rooks, short for recruits. So, a rook is a first-year student who arrives. They go through an initial entry training program.

to become a Norwich cadet. Narrator: The nickname also relates to a particular chess piece. Rumors are that we call them rooks because they move like chess pieces on a chessboard. They have to move in straight lines, and they make all their turns at the corners. Narrator: The period of initial entry training, or rookdom, typically concludes at the end of the first semester. Day zero marks the beginning of rook week ... Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up, hurry up, go! Narrator: ... seven days of intense training meant to push rooks out of their comfort zones. I don't have any other choice. You know, this is my only option, and I'm going to go forward with it. My plan to survive rook week is to do as I'm told, try to retain all the information that my cadre are giving me, and try my best to follow through with those orders.

Quinn Illi: Don't look at the big picture, take a look at the small picture, just go, say, meal to meal, maybe even hour to hour. Just take small bites of it and work your way through one step at a time. Don't get too far ahead of yourself, place too big expectations on yourself. Just focus on getting through this next little bit, and then you can worry about what's after that. Mark time! March! Left, left. I am not. I'm on the non-pursuing side of the corps. Narrator: Unlike service academies like West Point and the Naval Academy, graduates of Norwich are not required to commit to military service, although 50% to 55% typically do. I plan on going into the Army after Norwich. I have a ROTC four-year scholarship with the Army, so by the time I'm in my senior year and graduate, I will be commissioned as an officer.

We produce leaders for America. We do it through a means of a military environment, stressing academics first. We offer that training experience, that value-added experience that the Corps of Cadets offers. Newsreel: All men at Norwich and women who elect to join become members of the Norwich University Corps of Cadets. Norwich is our nation's oldest private military college, one of six senior military schools. Narrator: Norwich University is known as the birthplace of the ROTC, or Reserve Officers' Training Corps, a college program that trains students to become commissioned officers in the US military. Our founding father, Alden Partridge, it's what he brought to America. So the idea of being a citizen soldier is what Alden Partridge introduced to our country, and the ROTC concept came in, is that we had a full-time Corps of Cadets, and then we eventually commissioned them in the military. Narrator: Since its founding,

over 130 Norwich graduates have become generals in the US military. Narrator: Upon arriving at Norwich, rooks wear uniforms known as rookie storms, which consist of khaki pants, a black belt, and a white short-sleeve collared dress shirt, a tradition at Norwich since the early 1970s. Once they check in, men are given a black tie, women a black neck tab, and everyone gets the iconic rook baseball cap. Cadre: Chest, 40 ½. Narrator: After check-in, they're fitted for their other uniforms, like physical-training gear and their military Operational Camouflage Pattern, or OCP. Anass Nyamekye: We're the first person they see. We're just trying to get them introduced. That's all we're trying to do here. We're trying to make them look good here, so they don't get too yelled at upstairs. Sophia Righthouse: I am most pleased to have the privilege

to personally welcome you to the finest and the oldest military college in the United States, in the home of the Norwich Corps of Cadets. Narrator: At 1330, rooks and their families gather for a welcome ceremony. If you're like most rooks and parents, you probably had a pretty restless night last night. William McCollough: There are other academies, there are other senior military colleges, but nobody does it just the way that we do it. Narrator: Following the ceremony, family has seven minutes to say goodbye. It was sad. It was tough to leave my parents, but it's time to move on. It's kind of hard, but it was also like a breath of fresh air. You know? I kind of get to be on my own, my independence, but I'm going to miss being home and spending time with family and stuff like that. Cadre: Two columns, follow me.

Narrator: For the first time, rooks file out and get into formation and march to the upper parade grounds. Right turn, march. Narrator: Other students watch as the rooks begin their journey. Cadre: Company, halt. As I look out before me, all I can see are fresh, new high-school graduates, a blank slate. They will teach, and you will learn. If you already feel anxious or nervous, good. This is a first sign to show that you already care. Cadre, raise your right hand. Narrator: In a private ceremony, the cadre recite an oath to the rooks. All: I am a Norwich University cadet. Cadre: Sworn to uphold. All: Sworn to uphold. Cadre: Norwich University. All: Norwich University. Cadre: Rules and regulations and standards. All: Rules and regulations and standards. Cadre: I will try. All: I will try.

So, the cadre here at Norwich University are the primary instructors involved with any freshmen operations. Move! Move! Let's go! Move, move! Hurry up! Narrator: In recent years, Norwich University has been scrutinized for allegations of hazing. Joe Bosley: Just a show of hands, anybody know when the last time a hazing incident in this institution actually happened? That's the one I was thinking of, good job. Narrator: In 2022, several cadets on the Norwich women's rugby team were accused in a Vermont criminal court of waterboarding and branding other students, resulting in tickets and fines. When's the last time a hazing event happened in the corps, not to an athletic team? Anybody know? Narrator: Norwich leadership told us that hazing is strictly prohibited on campus. First of all, it's the law in Vermont. They have to follow the law. Narrator: Rooks at Norwich now undergo a hazing brief,

a course implemented in 2011. Bosley: With a training regime like this, there is always the possibility that it's going to happen. So we want to talk to you about what it looks like, what it could look like, and what you need to do if you see it, or, God forbid, you're one of the people that happens to, so you know how to react. We're not a basic training camp preparing to go to war. That's not our mentality. We're preparing officers to lead in America. It's a different construct than basic training. So the drill sergeant mentality is not what we promote here. Culp: In my time here, I've only been around and have seen one case, and that was handled incredibly well. We are supervising the process to make sure that everything goes exactly the way we want it to go. It did affect my decision a little bit, based on hazing, discrimination, stuff like that.

just because I am an alternative lifestyle. So I didn't know if things would be able to, you know, get said down here that wouldn't be able to be said back home and stuff like that, but everything's been really cool so far. Cadre: The sheet I just showed you, you're going to go to your room and grab them, and we're going to do inventory. Cadre: Fox 1, follow me. Narrator: After the ceremony on the upper parade grounds, rooks return to the dormitories for an inventory inspection. There's a lot of things that could happen and mix up. A lot of people could put something wrong or not mark it correctly, so we just want to double-check that they did get everything that they needed. Lidila: Did we tell you to talk? Rook: No, Staff Sgt. Lidila. Rook: No, Staff Sgt. Lidila. Lidila: Don't look at me.

It's high stress because of the fact that there's a lot of moving parts. The rooks are trying to figure out what they have. The staff are trying to make sure that they have everything that they need. So, they're wound tight. Room at ease. Good -- good afternoon, Sgt. 1st Class Ojeyomi. Ojeyomi: Room, at ease. You gotta remember, a lot of these staff, this is their first time in a position like that. So they're coming in trying to help manage 10 to 13 rooks, and then their staff above them is trying to manage four squad leaders, a platoon sergeant. But overall, we put it in a high-stress position because that kind of thing needs to get done. We need to get inventory done so that these rooks have the proper equipment to conduct the trainings in a safe manner later on in the week. Narrator: After a night of sleep,

rooks are awakened at 5:30 to the sound of cannon fire. Get down on my wall right now, let's go, let's go. Narrator: ... for their first PT, or physical training, session. All: 55. All: Yes, 1st Sgt Wallace. Awful. Cadre: Four, five. Illi: With the absolute utmost respect to my cadre and the Corps of Cadets program, starting PT was truly awful. I am not very physically fit. I tried to prepare by jogging over the summer, and I did, but it was, I truly ... not as big as health as I would've hoped. Narrator: Among the privileges rooks have at Norwich are the unique rules of etiquette they must follow in the dining hall. Driscoll: They have to essentially bring their fork up to their mouth, put it down, and that's when they can start chewing. Rooks: Yes, Staff Sgt. Sanchez.

Thank you. So, the dining procedures are very professional. We also want the dining procedures to hold more discipline, so they can't look around. They have to look down at their plate, grab their food, set their everything down, put their hands in their lap. They can talk to their cadre if they have a question, but that is all that they can say. Or they can tell them, I'm going to go to the bathroom, or, I'm going to get more food. Rook: Good evening, sir. Culp: But our main focus during dining is having that discipline and then them being focused on getting the food into their system so that they can be fueled for the next day. Narrator: Once rooks are done eating, they must read Rook Knowledge, which is the booklet that describes rook privileges, expectations, the school mission statement, and the Cadet's Creed.

Cadre: You will not have your hair poking out from under your cover. Yes, Staff Sgt. Brooke. Cadre: You won't have a problem anymore. Soon, all your hairs will go away. Narrator: Male rooks are required to shave their heads. Female rooks are not required to cut their hair, but they must follow the US Army hair guidelines. Norwich began accepting female students in 1974. Today, about 28% of the student population is female. Cadre: When the last person is done, you say, Forward, march, and then everyone goes. Narrator: Rooks at Norwich are restricted in what they're able to do on campus, referred to by leadership as rook privileges. Culp: Rook privileges are very little right now. They're allowed to not look around. They have privileges on Sundays. They'll be able to call their parents for 10 minutes,

and if they do have divorced parents, we're working on a way to be able to have two phone calls. Narrator: Rooks are also not allowed to leave campus until their rookdom ends, typically in December after the conclusion of their first semester. They are not allowed to utilize certain things on campus, such as Dunkin' or the restaurants on campus. They are not allowed to use their phones, and they are not allowed to just walk around campus. They have to actually square around the campus. Squaring essentially is a facing movement. It is not normal walking, so they have to walk in the gutter, which is on the side of the sidewalk, and every time they hit a corner, they have to do a facing movement instead of just walking around that corner. When you address my cadre members, you will speak to them with volume and respect. If you don't understand that now, you will understand that very soon.

We're a private school, military college in Vermont. That premium that you're going to pay to invest yourself in the Corps of Cadets is what's going to propel you forward when you leave here. There are other military schools I looked at. When I came here, I talked to all of the cadets and rooks when I was here. I just, like, felt like this is where I need to be. I don't have a plan, but I keep an open mind and a good mentality. I know it's going to be hard. I know I'm going to be pushed. I'm just going to stick with it because I know at the end it's going to be worth it. I'm a little nervous that I won't make it through, but I'm sure that I will. I feel like they got some tough moments in store for us. I'm most nervous about letting the doubt creep in.

and trying to not let the doubt overtake me, and to keep pushing further.

Day Zero At Norwich University — America's Oldest Private Military College | Boot Camp

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Day Zero At Norwich University — America's Oldest Private Military College | Boot Camp

Day Zero At Norwich University — America's Oldest Private Military College | Boot Camp

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