A listing about a hypothetical ROTC course lists as a prerequisite:
Must be a heterosexual student
Is that the "change" you want?
VOTE NO ON ROTC
vote no on discrimination
The best way to get a sense of Columbia's campus with ROTC is to look at
other comparable institutions that have ROTC, such as MIT or Johns Hopkins. At
MIT, openly gay students may take any of the academic ROTC courses. In order to
bring ROTC to Columbia, we would by necessity negotiate a contract, and we
recommend mandating that ROTC classes be extended to the whole population.
Perhaps Columbia can negotiate a contract with the Navy that would ensure that
our LGBTQ classmates can participate fully in activities on campus. Openly
LGBTQ students, however, are ineligible for ROTC scholarships and
commissioning due to the
federal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law.
To get a sense of how such colleges deal with the discrimination issue, read
this statement
from Johns Hopkins:
Because ROTC is a valuable component of the university that provides an opportunity for many students to afford a Hopkins education, to train for a career and to become positive forces in the military, the university, after careful study, has decided to continue the ROTC program and to encourage a change in federal policy that brings it into conformity with the university's policy.
The Johns Hopkins University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability, marital status or veteran status in any student program or activity administered by the university or with regard to admission or employment. Defense Department discrimination in ROTC programs on the basis of sexual orientation conflicts with this university policy. The university is committed to encouraging a change in the Defense Department policy.
We believe that this process of engagement represents a far more practical compromise than a continued boycott that predates DADT by decades, and has not been proven to be effective.
Analysis and photo by Columbia Students for
NROTC.