Anti-recruiter sentiment still alive on campus

By Peter HernandezThe Guardsman

Even  following the repeal of “Don’t ask, don’t tell,” campus military  recruitment remains a controversial topic at City College, with many  officials and students maintaining an anti-military recruiting  sentiment.

All  military recruiters are presently allowed on campus, provided they have  submitted their contact information, their location on campus and their  intent to the director of student activities, currently Samuel Santos.  Most recruitment occurs in the Career Center on Ocean campus, Santos  said.

“I  think there is a danger in opening military recruitment up for  discussion,” City College Trustee Milton Marks said. “There has been an  inflow of federal money for military recruitment. If we were to ban  military recruitment, they would withhold funds.”

Santos  said City College has not denied military recruiters access to campus  since the passage of the Solomon Amendment, a 1996 U.S. federal law  denying higher learning institutions federal and research grants if they  prevent military recruitment.

Marks  also said banning military recruitment brought up a “stink” during a  past Board of Trustees meeting, and that it is not a desired topic in  this month’s meeting, noting the array of options available for students  aside from military programs.

“We believe recruiters, and everyone else on campus, have a right to free speech,” Santos said.
While  the Pentagon has changed its stance on gays serving in the military,  some students still believe recruiters have no place on campus.

“We’ve  been excluded from marriage and military service and developed  non-violent means of communication,” said Marla Fisher, a psychology  major at City College working at the Queer Resources Center on campus.   “Most people enter military service thinking they are going to have a  career, but you may have to kill people or suffer from post-traumatic  stress.”

Santos  said that as member of the LGBT community, he thought it would be  unwise to make an uniformed decision to be recruited without having been  presented more than one perspective.

Leslie  Smith, City College’s government liaison, said the college abides by  the law and no complaints have come to her office regarding military  recruitment on campus, although she said she makes students a priority  over ROTC recruiters, whom she feels provide “inadequate and inefficient  information.”

Congress repealed “Don’t ask, don’t tell” Dec. 18, 2010, and President Barack Obama signed the repeal Dec. 22.

While  considered a triumph for both the gay community and Obama’s presidency,  LGBT military personnel still cannot disclose their sexuality openly  until the president, defense secretary, and the chairman of the Joint  Chiefs of Staff certify that the armed forces have regulations in place  that secure the “unit cohesion” that the original policy cited in its  original incarnation.

Some  students, like Scott Alford, a veteran and computer engineering major  working at City College’s Veteran Students Program and Services, support  recruiters on campus.

“I  think recruitment on campus is great,” he said. “It helps students  expand their opportunities. Military service and education can go  hand-in-hand.”

Students  interested in ROTC are referred to the nearest host school, the  University of San Francisco, which affiliates with SF State for  recruitment.

The U.S. armed forces hope to have fully implemented the repeal by the end of the year, having outlined a plan on Jan. 28.