Student Life
With a tuition of $500 per year in the 1800s, the M.M.A. attracted mostly sons of wealthy upper class businessmen. There were three levels of training at the school: Infantry, Artillery, and Cavalry. The cadets wore gray and white uniforms, modeled after those that were worn at West Point. Students with musical abilities were encouraged to join the marching band. All cadets were taught to use a .45 caliber Springfield rifle, and the academy had an 8-inch siege mortar and Gatling guns at its disposal for military drills. There were a few accidents; in 1884, a cadet drowned during a training exercise in the lake. In 1889, another cadet drowned during a midnight swim.
The cadets had a busy schedule, even on weekends. Rogers and his staff allowed for holiday parties and arranged dances with nearby all-girls schools. Discipline was harsh and there were many athletic and extracurricular activities and the students were encouraged to participate. There were several hundred dropouts throughout the academy's history.
Read more about this topic: Michigan Military Academy
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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