While many college students are taught that the United States is evil and is the source of many of the world’s problems — ideas that do not stand up well to facts — a college in Missouri is now requiring that all freshmen take a course developed to encourage patriotism.
The College of the Ozarks, a private Christian college, lists the course as a military science class which it named Patriotic Education and Fitness, Bloomberg reported.
All freshman will now be taught rifle marksmanship, U.S. politics, current military customs, and other skills that are traditionally taught in military boot camps.
Retired U.S. Marine Corps General Terrence Dake announced the new course while speaking at an event at the college on Monday centered around the class.
“I really think that if you give a person the tools of an education, the patriotic yearnings inside of themselves and the leadership tools that can be taught — they will be leaders,” said Dake, who is also a board of trustees member at the college.
The College’s president, Jerry Davis, gave further explanation on why he thinks the course is important in today’s society.
“Understanding the military now is more important than ever because we have 99 percent of the population being defended by 1 percent, who are in uniform,” Davis said. “We should be more intentional about patriotic education, and from our point of view that needs to occur from kindergarten all the way through college.”
The move by the college comes as institutions of higher education continue to restrict free speech — a constitutionally protected right — from campuses across the nation. The most recent example of which happened this week as UCLA tried to shut down The Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro from speaking on campus on November 13.