Arkansas Tech University’s William Perrott has earned the U.S. Army ROTC Distinguished Military Graduate distinction.
The U.S. Army ROTC Distinguished Military Graduate honor is reserved for qualified students who rank in the top 20 percent of ROTC cadets in the nation.
Perrott is from Phoenix, Ariz. He will graduate from Arkansas Tech this year with a Master of Arts degree in history. He previously earned his bachelor’s degree in history from Duke University, where he was a member of the Blue Devils football team.
“I came (to Arkansas Tech) with a clear vision of what I wanted to do, and it definitely helped that I’d already been to college,” said Perrott. “I knew what to do and what not to do. I knew how much time I needed to spend studying and writing. Some of the mistakes I would have made four or five years ago, I don’t make them as much now. I’m definitely more organized and was able to grind away at graduating on time.”
Perrott chose Arkansas Tech, in part, because of family connections. He has family that resides in Arkansas, and members of his family attended Arkansas Tech in the 1950s. He said the opportunity to pursue and obtain a commission as an officer in the U.S. Army as a member of the ATU ROTC program was his primary reason for attending graduate school.
“You can get out of it what you want to,” said Perrott. “If you want to be in the National Guard and you have a job that you want in mind, that’s a route you can take. If you want to become active duty, you still compete for it, but there’s that opportunity.”
As a result of his selection as a U.S. Army ROTC Distinguished Military Graduate, Perrott was invited to attend the 2018 George C. Marshall Conference Feb. 12-14 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
“They made it very good for networking,” said Perrott. “It was mainly about connecting with the people I’ll be working with during my career, and I had a chance to meet some of my roommates for when I go to infantry training this summer.”
