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Education Desk: VICE Ranks Three Illinois Schools Among Nations Most "Militarized"

Members of Southern Illinois University's Army ROTC program participated in the Old Glory Coast-To-Coast Relay last week.
Ryan Michalesko
Members of Southern Illinois University's Army ROTC program participated in the Old Glory Coast-To-Coast Relay last week.
Members of Southern Illinois University's Army ROTC program participated in the Old Glory Coast-To-Coast Relay last week.
Credit Ryan Michalesko
Members of Southern Illinois University's Army ROTC program participated in the Old Glory Coast-To-Coast Relay last week.

VICE News has published an investigation of American universities with ties to the military, police, and intelligence communities. Southern Illinois University in Carbondale ranked number 23, due to the number of alums who work in “top secret” jobs. The amount of fundingSIUreceives from national security and defense agencies was another factor.

HEAR the story...Rae Goldsmith,SIU’spublic information officer, was surprised VICE calls the school “militarized,” but appreciates the ranking.

“From our perspective as an institution, this is not a negative," she says. "It is something that is historically part of our mission that we’re very proud of.” 

SIU has an engineering school, a business school and a cyber-security program that could prepare students for careers related to the military.

Two other state institutions made the list: Northwestern University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign were ranked numbers 80 and 83 respectively.

 

Copyright 2015 NPR Illinois | 91.9 UIS

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