Leopard Battalion (1919-1991)

In 1919, Lafayette established a Reserve Officer’s Training Corps (ROTC) battalion. For the next seventy-one years, graduates of the Leopard Battalion served the United States in foreign wars and conflicts. Until 1968, ROTC was compulsory for all students for the first two years; after, it was voluntary. In 1991, budget cuts forced the Leopard Battalion to be merged with the Lehigh University Steel Battalion.

World War I: Camp Lafayette

The entry of the United States into World War I prompted the formation of Camp Lafayette in the summer of 1917. Lafayette College ceased to exist as a solely educational institution, with President John McCracken agreeing to open college facilities to recruits and draftees training to go off to war.

Students and recruits alike lived in dorm rooms and trained on Lafayette’s campus. Students acted as guards for the campus and passes were required to leave. Classes began with students standing at attention until their professors called out, “At rest!”

Thousands of men were trained at Camp Lafayette, for all branches of service. When the war ended, triumphant students, soldiers, and recruits marched down College Hill into downtown Easton to celebrate the Allied victory. Lafayette College resumed normal operations again in January, 1919. Soon after, the Leopard Battalion was formed, bringing ROTC to Lafayette.

Leopard Battalion

In 1919, the Leopard Battalion of Lafayette College was created. ROTC was compulsory until the 1960s, when it became voluntary.