The NU Support Group
Characters:
Vincent, senior, 21-years-old, white, private, in PT gear
James, senior, Air Force, 21-years-old, white, staff sergeant, in an Air Force uniform
Frozan, senior, 26-years-old, Afghan, second lieutenant, in a Corp of Cadet OCP uniform
Preston, senior, 20-years-old, white, staff sergeant, in a Corps of Cadets uniform
Michael, junior, 21-years-old, African American, sergeant, in PT gear
Narrator
The group of Corps students in uniform stand at the back of the stage. Upstage five chairs face the audience. The students are shrouded in darkness, but a low light highlights the
Narrator: Good evening to you all and welcome to the NU Corps Support Group production. As a forewarning, this play will contain themes that can be found upsetting and uncomfortable, but these are true stories that need to be told. Thank you for listening tonight, and please keep an open mind to these experiences.
SCENE 1: FINDING NORWICH
PROJECTED ON SCREEN:
What brought you to Norwich University?
The word ‘family’ flashes all over the screen and then it fades back to the question.
(VINCENT and MICHAEL walk up to chairs. VINCENT sits in the seat to the far left while MICHAEL sits in the seat on the far right.)
VINCENT: My brother. I needed structure because I have ADHD, and I really struggle to focus on—on anything and I wanted to join the military. So, the structure of the Corps of Cadets and the availability of the Air Force and other services here really attracted me to this school, but coming here is probably one of my biggest regrets.
MICHAEL: What brought me was my aunt, she’s an NCO in the United States Army. She saw some shit that kind of made her want to chill out for like her last ten years. So, she works a HR job now for the Army, but her boss, who’s the inspector general for the Massachusetts Guard, is a Norwich grad. Big Norwich guy. Still has all his Norwich memorabilia in his office, still wears his ring. So, I spoke to him a few times. He was kind of all for it, like “This place is cool. You can go here. Try to become an officer. It’ll be fun. You know, it’ll probably be like bullshit for the first couple months.” Which it was. (Said matter of factly.) But, besides that, the fact that Norwich gave me a fat bag?
The words ‘financial aid’ and ‘false promises’ flit across the screen several times before they fade back to the question.
(PRESTON, FROZAN, and JAMES join VINCENT and MICHAEL at the chairs.)
FROZAN: Well, if I’m staying away from flowery responses, it was the full scholarship. Because economy, financial status, and financial stability play a huge role in terms of my education, and Norwich was one of the places that gave me a full scholarship. But that was not necessarily the main reason, I was determined to get an education. If it wasn’t Norwich, it would have been somewhere else. But I knew that I needed to get out of my country in order to pursue higher education. Norwich trusted me with the chance, I got the full scholarship, and now I’m here.
JAMES: So, initially, I came here because I wanted to play sports and, you know, like serve my country. But, as time went on, I realized that the athletic experience is full of shit here, and I’ve kind of talked about it to different people. But I ended up leaving sports my junior year. It’s not like on the players, it was like the coaching staff, that facilitates, that kind of toxic environment. But I’m happy, like where I’m going in life. I’m going out West to do work around nuclear missiles for the Air Force. It’s something that I’m passionate about, and, you know, obviously, I love our country and the people here in our country. So, I’m very happy, like where I’m going and like what I’m getting out of the Corps career-wise.
PRESTON: I came to Norwich University for two reasons: the first being that I was an Air Force Academy reject. There’s kind of a reputation for Norwich as being the Academy-rejects school. So, I came here because I was getting the same experience, trying to pursue an Air Force contract to be a pilot, and also because out of the other schools that I applied for and was accepted to, including Ivy Leagues, and local state schools, I received the most scholarship money that I would be able to use towards my education here.
The screen goes blank, and the Corps students get up from the chairs. They stand at the back of the stage again.
PROJECTED ON SCREEN:
What has the Corps environment been like for you?
The words ‘TOXIC’, ‘IMMATURE’, ‘SEXIST’, and ‘UNSAFE’ are presented on screen in bold. The words linger for several seconds before fading back to the question.
(All of the Corps students walk to the chairs and take a seat.)
JAMES: So, I think I got a lot out of the Corps my freshman year because I was in a very toxic environment. I wasn’t personally affected by the toxic environment because it was good to see what not to do. Kind of like a case study almost of like leadership.
MICHAEL: You can definitely tell when you find people who are trying to run from whatever they got going on, like within themselves, and people who use the Corps as a cover. And then people who are just in the Corps to benefit from it. We were talking about this in class, like, people who let the Corps go to their heads, and that’s kind of been what has ruined my experience a little bit. A lot of bad leaders and that’s from, in my opinion, that’s from like an objective perspective, not a subjective one. They just like demonstrate traits that would not be conducive to being a leader.
PRESTON: I was a part of the only majority female platoon at Norwich in fall of 2020 and, as a result of this, we were called the weak platoon, our own rook brothers threatened to leave because we weren’t “as capable as them.” They consistently insulted our female staff sergeant; they consistently harassed and bullied her because she wasn’t as good as our other cadre. We were seen as weak because we couldn’t keep up with the boys at PT because we were females. There would be consistent meetings between the “boys club” in our platoon that included many of our rook brothers because we weren’t good enough for them.
FROZAN: There was no gym in the village I grew up in. Well, there were a lot of things that we didn’t have, but the entire country thought gyms were a foreign concept. It was not part of the daily necessity. It was non-existent. So, for me to be put in a situation where I had to not only push myself physically but to be put against a man, it was like out of this world. I was like, “These people are crazy. What are they thinking?” I remember the first time my cadre asked me to run, and I couldn’t run; my form was so bad that they had to make me sit down and watch YouTube videos to learn how to run because the way I ran looked really funny, and I didn’t realize it. Obviously, it wasn’t just that, I was alien to this new environment and everyone else also thought, “Well, she’s an alien.” They didn’t know how to deal with me, I guess. And then there’s the culture of not being listened to. When I tried to talk to them, they kind of pushed me aside. So, I isolated myself; I shut down completely.
VINCENT: It’s been toxic and hostile. Definitely not what I signed up for and, so, I have tried—I’ve basically reverted my schedule to that of a normal student’s as much as I can. I don’t go to formations because it’s pointless, which I don’t get in trouble for. I don’t really do any of the Corps stuff other than some of the really important things like showing respect to other people, for example, Jeet, the guy that passed away two years ago now, he was a friend of mine, so I showed up to his echo taps, but other than that if it’s not important, like formation, you will not see me there.
PRESTON: I had a very abusive cadre. Both mentally and emotionally, and in some cases physically, though not to me. They were very vindictive, poorly behaved, and just terrible leaders from the outset, and you know coupled with the fact that we were all so isolated because of Covid, we weren’t fully permitted to leave unless for class, so we were constantly exposed to that abuse and maltreatment. I was also coming off a difficult period in my own life, mental health-wise, and had just barely recovered myself, so I ended up sliding back into a significant mental health decline. Another contribution from the Corps that I find that I will never ever pursue again, and will not recommend that anybody else pursue, is the gender dynamic.
(The lights fade out on the students. Everyone gets up except for VINCENT and JAMES.)
SCENE 2: Norwich Forever
(A single spotlight falls on VINCENT.)
VINCENT: I kind of want to talk about the sexual assault on campus.
(PRESTON joins VINCENT and JAMES at the chairs. The spotlight encases them all.)
VINCENT: It’s a really swept-under-the-rug topic, especially for men. I know a hand full of men, and I include myself in this, who have been sexually assaulted by women and nothing ever came of it. Like I’ve talked to all the correct people and heard nothing back about it, a lot of it was because they’re women who have done it.
PRESTON: As a female in the Corps, I am significantly more disrespected than I would have been in any other school, even in any other military program. I do have a long history of leadership and challenge and competition in military environments. I was a nationally recognized Colorguard commander. I lead multiple teams across the US, both physically and academically in military settings, and I have never had significant gender problems. Obviously, most females encounter some sort of gender problems in their lives, but they have not been nearly to the extent that they have in Norwich.
JAMES: I hadn’t really met someone before Vincent and I talked recently, in the past few weeks, who had also experienced sexual assault, um, from female to male. And it’s just like, no one really cares, as like being a guy. And especially since, I’m kind of a weird person in that, I’m a very emotionally sensitive person, but like, outwardly I present as this like big, strong white guy, and I’m just like, you know, that is part of me. But I’m also not really like that. And so, I usually just stay closed off to people because I figure, you know, if I don’t show my cards then they can’t say anything.
VINCENT: The women here have a lot more power than they know. There are two sides to that coin: there’s some that think they don’t have the power… so they don’t, but the women who realize that they are such a minority at this school can really take advantage of a lot of the men, and they do. It’s disgusting, but nothing—my friend over here is the only person on campus who I’ve been able to talk to about it, who’s actually understood it and has not only seen but lived what I’ve experienced. It’s something that I didn’t believe in before I came here, men being sexually assaulted. I was sexually assaulted by a girl on campus, and I got high fives for it; it was so disgusting.
JAMES: But, you know, when push comes to shove, it’s like what Vincent said, it’s celebrated. Like everyone thinks it’s awesome. Like the more sex you have to more it makes you a better human being. And it’s like, you know, obviously that’s not only ridiculous, but that promotes this mentality of it doesn’t matter how I have sex, like as long as I have more sex, like that makes me a better person, kind of. Which is just, I don’t know, like foul. About a month ago I told someone, like when they brought up sexual assault, I was like, “Yeah, you know, I was sexually assaulted, and it really negatively affected me for a while.” And they were like, “Oh, like what are you? A pussy?” And, so, it’s like, you know, what do you do? You just shut down and you don’t say anything.
PRESTON: There are significant instances where I find that I have to step in for young women, in particular freshman and sophomore women, for being belittled, run over, or completely ignored by their male peers or even their male superiors. If this is an environment in which we were supposed to be treated like the leaders that we are and that were supposed to be trained, and acknowledged as such, this environment would rank very low on a scale of 1 to 10.
(Beat)
I’ve had friends who have been chased or followed from the gym, back to barracks in the dark, out to their vehicles. There is a significant portion of this campus that covers up sexual assaults, sexual abuse, relationship abuse, emotional abuse, and I, in fact, was a victim of two separate sexual assault events by the same man on campus. There is quite a bit of manipulation between young female cadets and upperclassmen males, particularly in the chain of command, who take advantage of that as well.
JAMES: I didn’t know what had happened to me for a few years, you know? I always knew something was wrong, but similar to Vincent’s experience, it was how I lost my virginity. And, um, basically, there was a squad leader in charge of me. I was underage drinking off campus two years ago on Halloween. She was sober. And so, like, looking back now, I can see how predatory she was and how she searched me out throughout the night to make sure that I was under her supervision, you know, and in control. I can also see why there were good conditions for her to commit that crime. Uh, cause, like, I’m a law nerd, so I kinda look at it through a criminal lens. But, like, you know, she’s in charge of me first. So, she can use that against me to either silence me or try to encourage me to go with her, which she did.
PRESTON: The resources here regarding that sort of lack of safety for females and males are slim to none. Title IX, while something that is federally mandated, doesn’t tend to produce results that should be produced because much of what they encounter is hearsay. Much of what they encounter in an investigation is based, not so much on the personal recollection of an individual, but the evidence of what they can find, which is usually a back-and-forth he-said-she-said instance, making it an ineffective organization. There is no accountability on this campus whatsoever.
VINCENT: I think there’s two systems: there’s the front, the system that we all know and live by, and that system is put in place not for the students, but for the school so that the school can cover its own ass. So, they can say they have this system put in place, but really, it’s a merry-go-round of information where you have an issue, you put it in the system, and the most it’s going to do is come right back to you. Whether that’s to bite you in the ass or just to remind you that if this is going to happen, there will be zero repercussions. That’s the first system and the second system is like a borderline conspiracy, but it seems to be that people who get in trouble get talked to behind closed doors. I wouldn’t even say it’s a slap on the wrist but more of like a “Really bro? You did that?” and the next thing you know, they’re like “Okay, I’ll take your word for it. You can walk free.”
(Beat)
There are people on this campus who are known for sexual assault, like their personality and their character on this campus are like, “Don’t let them into this party; they’re going to be creepy and sexually assault you.” I used to not believe in that until one of my friends became that person, and I was like, “Nah, that’s bullshit,” and then I stepped away from that person because that’s kind of what you should do.
JAMES: I even went to a sexual assault training yesterday for a department and no one cared. Like everyone thought it was hilarious and like laughing about it, about all forms of sexual assault from, you know, male to male, female to male, female to female, male to female. So, it doesn’t really resonate with people unless you’ve really experienced it here. And, even then, like you have this sense of, to use Vincent’s phrase, and I really love it, the phrase is “competition of who has the biggest Stockholm Syndrome.” And I think that really applies to this because, like even after that meeting, there was someone I talked with who disagreed with what constitutes as sexual assault. And I said, matter of fact, like, I shared my story about how I was assaulted, and they replied with, “Well, you know, I’m sorry that happened to you. Um, that also happened to me, but I still disagree.” So, it was like this person had been sexually assaulted and, still, like, the gears weren’t turning. I think this is part of a larger problem in our society and you can see it. I’ve done a lot of counseling and looking into how it affected me because it did severely affect me.
PRESTON: This university in general perpetuates a significant negative outlook toward life in my opinion. I have never seen so many people sick with mental health challenges in my life, and I have been exposed to quite a few, considering that I was a trained mental health advisor and peer counselor for most of my years of high school and middle school. I have never seen so many people who are miserable in the place that they’re at.
(The lights fade out and the students stand up and join the rest at the back of the stage.)
SCENE 3: Norwich Together.
PROJECTED ON SCREEN:
What has kept you in the Corps?
The words ‘I Will Try’ haphazardly flash across the screen before being replaced with the question again.
(JAMES and PRESTON come to the seats. A light falls on them.)
JAMES: So, I’m not a quitter. Which, you know, I don’t like the term quitter because I don’t really think it describes people. But just the concept of, like, for me to be commissioned into the Air Force, I need to stay in the Corps. That’s kind of like the rule. But, um, you know, for me it’s very plain and simple that I had to do it in order to commission.
PRESTON: So, there’s two reasons that motivated me to stay in the Corps: the first being the scholarship money. Some of that scholarship money goes away if I become a civilian student. The second being that I’m not a quitter. I came here for a reason, I came here to earn my ring and to earn my ability to succeed in the military, and while that’s not a goal that I have anymore, in part, because I believe that the detachment here is discriminatory, I still believe that I earned this privilege to be here. And as a result, I needed to stay.
(Beat)
The only thing that I would say that I really truly, you know, was able to enjoy here is the friends I made, and not the friends I made in the Corps because those friends are ones that were made out of challenge, out of strife. But my civilian friends, those are the friends who will remain after I am gone, whereas my Corps friends only talk to me and interact with me on a level that is purely business.
The word ‘Friends’ blooms across the screen and is accompanied by pictures of friends.
(MICHAEL and FROZAN join JAMES and PRESTON at the chairs.)
FROZAN: Funnily enough, I was thinking about this question when I was giving a tour the other day for a group of families with prospective students who will join Norwich in the fall, and many were joining the Corps of Cadets. I told them that the Corps of Cadets creates an expectation that you will find a community once you join the Corps. It’s like a fairy tale. And it’s like the perception that we have about love. You fall in love, and then it’s not precisely those flowers and rainbows or butterflies that we expect all the time.
(Beat)
Obviously, it was a fairy tale that turned into a disappointment. But you go in, and it takes hard work, sometimes you might not even find that community in the Corps. Maybe it is on this campus, but not necessarily in the Corps. But in some ways, the Corps kind of instills that desire within you that this is the place you can find your community. But if you don’t find it in the Corps, don’t be disappointed. There are a lot of other ways that people can find their communities. And that’s what I have realized.
MICHAEL: There’s nothing else here keeping me around except the people. The experiences that I’ve gained with these people are, like, invaluable, like, I’ll literally take those to my grave. I’ll take what I’ve learned here to my grave. I’ll take what I’ve learned here to wherever I go in life. Because a lot of these people are great, a lot of these people deserve more than what they have right now. And to some of these people, they may or may not know it, but they have saved my life many times. Like both literally and figuratively. And, you know, these are the types of people who are important. There’s a saying in the military, “This type of training is the best experience you never want to have agai,n” and that’s the truth. The experiences you have with the people around you make it worth it. I can really say that there’s people here who I would take a bullet for, lay my life down for, just because I think they’re worth it.
(VINCENT finally joins the other students.)
VINCENT: What’s kept me in the Corps? Pure ignorance and lousy decision-making have kept me here. I’ve been told to leave by so many people, and because of my personality, I have always done what people told me not to do. Which is toxic as fuck. I should have left after my freshman year, but I stayed because I thought I had friends, and I’m still friends with these people, but it’s not what’s important. You must remind yourself that you’re your number one, and I have not been doing that, so by not keeping myself as a number one priority, I stayed here.
(The lights fade on the students. MICHAEL stands up and walks to the back of the stage.)
SCENE 4: Farewell Seniors!
PROJECTED ON SCREEN:
The Future of our alumni
(A light encases the 4 Senior Corps students.)
FROZAN: You’re either a person who gets disappointed and walks away from the situation or you’re the kind of person who can give the situation a second chance. Who stays there and works through and says, “No, actually, I’m going to sit here and find my place, find my grounding, and actually, I’m going to fight for it.” I think that’s who I have been, the second person, when I came to Norwich.
JAMES: I think the Corps kind of functions with a façade. They promote professionalism and all this stuff that, in the abstract, seems great, but then, functionally, they don’t do it at all. Since I was assaulted, I really dissociated from the Corps, and I’m very apathetic toward the institution as a whole.
(Beat)
I think that’s kind of what drew me toward the Air Force because they treat people with a lot more respect than, you know, some of the other branches in my opinion. And so I’m happy that I’m in a position where I can now positively affect people’s lives. Yeah, I don’t plan on keeping anything that says Corps of Cadets on it when I graduate. I plan on either giving it away, throwing it away, recycling it, or whatever.
PRESTON: I recently had the opportunity to earn my junior ring, and I chose not to buy one. Despite the fact that I’d earned it, despite the fact that I qualified for it, despite the fact that it’s a tradition and something that many people get to in spite of their challenges with this university. I decided that there was not a single part of this university that I wanted to wear on my body and represent to the world, so I chose not to buy one. I did not participate in the ceremony beyond sending off my Rook siblings by playing in the band that marched them down. Beyond that, I decided that I wasn’t going to let them mark me like that because I don’t want to represent what Norwich is perpetuating here. I don’t want to represent the morals and values that they are teaching future officers, and I don’t want to be a part of a tradition that pushes people down, ruins their mental health, and, in particular, silences women and men and their suffering regarding how they’re treated on this campus.
VINCENT: This school is one of the grimiest places I’ve ever fucking been, and I’m embarrassed to say that I go here, my friends are embarrassed to say they go here. This school is not what you think it is until you’re four years in, you’re stuck, and you can’t leave.
(The lights fade on the students. They all stand up and head to the back of the stage.)
END.
