Cannon and Castle

Cannon and Castle members, class of 1936

Cannon and Castle members, from the Yale Banner, 1951

On May 24, 1928, a group of students attending Yale College and the Sheffield Scientific School formed the Cannon and Castle military fraternity.[2] The founders were all enrolled in the Department of Military Science and were members of field artillery and engineering units of Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC).[2] The 22 founding members and four honorary members included:[2]

Its founders created Cannon and Castle to foster closer ties between Yale's two ROTC programs and to provide a forum for military-related discussions on campus.[3] Membership was limited to those in ROTC field artillery and engineering units.[2] By 1936, Cannon and Castle was referred to as an "honorary military society".[4]

Each year, Cannon and Castle elected six members from the junior class.[5][4] These members were selected for their "character, knowledge as reflected by general academic achievements and achievements in military science, and leadership qualities as demonstrated by performance as a cadet in the Reserve Officers Training Corps, and by contributing to the Yale Cadet Battalion."[6] The six men would in turn, nominate twelve additional men for membership.[5] Members were identified with a braid that could be worn on their uniform.[7]

The society met every two weeks at various campus locations.[8] It hosted lectures by military and foreign policy leaders, screened films, and held social events such as the annual Army-Navy Dance.[9][10][11][12][13] It also offered the Col. Dean Hudnet Award for marksmanship in a competition that was open to any Military Science student at Yale.[14] The award was name for a deceased professor of military science and tactics who was a member of the 1936 Olympic pistol team.[14][15]

Cannon and Castle discontinued operations during World War II but reactivated in 1947 at its units' summer quarters in at Camp Campbell in Kentucky and Stewart Field in New York before returning to campus.[11] However, Cannon and Castle ceased operations in 1967 during the Vietnam War and the eventual expulsion of ROTC from Yale in 1969. The Yale Archives houses Cannon and Castle's records and documents.[16]

Cannon and Castle holds an induction ceremony and dinner for its elected members. Throughout the academic year, the society hosts special film screenings, debates, and guest lectures open to the public. Meetings are generally held in the Yale Naval ROTC unit wardroom on 55 Whitney Avenue.

To be eligible for membership in Cannon and Castle, an individual must be an undergraduate enrolled in Yale College with military affiliation, whether active-duty, reserves, or ROTC (which returned to Yale in 2012[17]). Elected ROTC cadets and midshipmen are generally in the top 25% of their class merit standing and possess a GPA greater than 3.90 in their military science courses. Other members come from the Eli Whitney Scholar community.

In exceptional circumstances, the society confers honorary membership to staff, faculty, graduate students, or fellows who have contributed significantly to the Yale military/veterans community. The commanding officers of Yale ROTC are ex-officio members of the society and sit on its Board of Regents, alongside society alumni members.

David Boren

• Honor society
• Professional fraternities and sororities