Campus military recruiters seen as a civil liberties issue

[img1]In high school, ASUW senator Bryce McKibben was faced with a tough decision: look into joining the U.S. Air Force Academy or come out to his friends and family. He chose the latter. He said people come out for different reasons, but he had just met someone and wanted to introduce him to his family. He doesn't regret his decision; he is still with his partner three years later.

"For a long time I was depressed about not being able to share things from my family and friends," McKibben said. "I didn't want to hide, something I would be forced to do if I chose to serve."

Now a member of the UW Gay, Bisexual, Lesbian and Transgender Commission (GBLTC), McKibben said he is offended when military recruiters come on campus. He said the military's policies make him feel like the gay and lesbian community isn't important enough to serve their country.

McKibben introduced a bill to the Student Senate a month ago to ban recruiters on campus. He had to modify the bill after the Supreme Court's ruling three weeks ago that determined Congress was not violating the free speech amendment, despite the fact that the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy directly violates many universities' anti-discriminatory policies. Those policies were instituted to provide equal rights for the many different students that study at public institutions.

The Court's unanimous decision upheld the Solomon Act -- the law that denies federal funds to colleges and universities if they refuse military recruiters access to public facilities. This means that if the UW banned military recruiters, $800 million of its budget would be vulnerable to removal.

McKibben said he was disappointed with the ruling.

"We feel like the University can't stand up for us, that there's nothing we can do because the government supports discriminatory policies," he said.

The GBLTC changed their bill after the Supreme Court's ruling. Now it calls for signs to be placed near military recruiters and their literature, admonishing the Solomon act. The revised resolution will be brought to the Senate next week.

The University of Washington Law School is a member of the Association of American Law Schools, which requires member schools to provide equal opportunities to all students. W.H. "Joe" Knight, dean of the law school, said in no way does the University promote discriminatory practices on campus. But the University can't risk losing funding, he said, and this leaves it "stuck in the middle."

"In no way does the law school allow discrimination against gay or lesbian persons," said Knight. "But the Solomon Act stands."

Knight said whenever the military comes to the law school to recruit law students into their law program, students post signs on the doors and hallways alerting students of the recruiters' presence.

Sarah Wilhelm said she hopes students do more than just put up posters to protest the presence of the military on campus. [img2]She's hoping to get over 20,000 signatures from Seattleites protesting the war in Iraq, and said the UW is a great place to solicit signatures and support. A graduate student in the department of health services, Wilhelm is part of a growing campaign called College Not Combat, which launched two weeks ago.

The group is composed of over 20 volunteers whose mission is to bring a ballot initiative to Seattle that would officially oppose military recruiters. Initiative 86 aims to discourage the use of public facilities -- including schools, colleges, universities and parks -- for the purpose of recruiting young people into the armed forces.

Kate Johnson, the initiative's acting campaign manager, said she hasn't encountered more than one person who didn't agree to sign the petition. She said they already have between 500 to 800 signatures. Instead of being discouraged because of the recent ruling, Johnson said she hopes the momentum will build into a strong counter-recruitment movement.

"The presence of the military on this University's campus, a public university like this, contradicts the mission of the University by promoting war and militarism over education and service to the community," said Wilhelm. She said she thinks the campus can be doing more, and that many UW students have an opinion about the issue -- they just need an outlet to express it in.

"We're not working so hard on our education to go over and kill Iraqis -- that's not what we're here to do," she said.

The campaign will hold an official kick-off rally next month at Seattle Central Community College, a place that got national attention in February when a mob of students chased military recruiters off campus, protesting the war in Iraq by throwing water bottles and yelling insults at recruiters, according to an article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

That wasn't the only instance of protest against campus recruitment. Garfield High School also got national attention a few months ago when the PTA passed a resolution recommending military recruiters to be barred from campus -- the first resolution of its kind in Seattle. On March 18, hundreds gathered in downtown Seattle to protest campus military recruitment and the war in Iraq.

McKibben said he hopes there will be more activity of this kind in the future, and Initiative 86 seems to be a step in the right direction.

"When I see recruiters on campus, it makes me feel we have no power to hold up the ideas we hold true...we're dealing with an issue that doesn't have a lot of political support right now," McKibben said.

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