College in Missouri Focused on Teaching Students about the U.S. and Military

A Missouri college that has long embraced teaching its students about military history is beginning a new, required course on patriotism.

FOX’s Gurnal Scott with the story:

The College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Missouri is a private, Christian, liberal arts school that embraces it’s uniqueness in how it values getting “the job” done:

(Dr. Davis) “This is a work college. Kids work here. They don’t pay tuition. They don’t have to do that. We don’t make loans and they graduate debt free. We to turn out citizens that will take a leadership role.”

That is why the college’s president Dr. Jerry Davis says part of the school’s mission has been teaching students about the military and it’s importance historically in America. The College of the Ozarks is making that a new course, mandatory for incoming freshmen, called ‘Patriotic Education and Fitness’:

(Dr. Davis) “We think that we need to be a little bit more intentional in teaching students about our country and about the military and what they do and why they do it.” 

The course will serve to educate students on armed forces customs and protocols and touch on some political principles as well as teaching marksmanship and other survival techniques. It can serve, should a first-year student choose, as a start for reserve officers training or ROTC. Davis who has led the College of the Ozarks for nearly 30 years says Midwestern reverence for the military makes this a great fit within their curriculum:

(Dr. Davis) “It’s a part of our carrying out our patriotic goal and we think, we hope, that other schools will notice that.”

Davis says this concept couldn’t come at a better time as controversy continues in stadiums across the nation over patriotism:

(Dr. Davis) “I regret very much what’s going on in the culture with regard to respect for the national anthem. Those are military students that present those colors and by extension. The country is being provided or defended by the military, so you can’t say it doesn’t involve the military. It does.” 

In fact, the school has said its teams won’t compete against other athletes that won’t stand for the anthem. That’s why Davis wants his school to lead the way in teaching respect for the uniform:

(Dr. Davis) “Patriotism is not inherited by bloodstream. It must be modeled. It must be modeled, it must be taught.”

So what began as a pilot program, is growing at the College of the Ozarks as a nod to those who serve and to America itself.

Gurnal Scott, FOX News.