Prairie View A&M University

Prairie View A&M University holds a singular place in naval history: in December 1967, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara announced Prairie View A&M College as the first HBCU selected to host a Naval ROTC unit. The first 13 midshipmen were commissioned in May 1970 — when there were only 236 African American officers among 72,000 Navy officers total. Of those 13 pioneers, 10 served in the Navy and three in the Marine Corps; six rose to captain and two became admirals. The unit is now part of the Houston Consortium alongside Rice University. The Prairie View unit carries this history deliberately, and the institutional memory shapes how midshipmen understand their role in the profession of arms. Service selection outcomes include SWO, aviation, and Marine communities. The HBCU environment produces officers who bring perspectives and backgrounds underrepresented in the senior officer ranks.