Subject: Anti-ROTC Resources
From: Rich Cowan <[email-masked]>
To: Multiple recipients of list ACTIV-L <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 18 Mar 1992 12:21:05 CST

The following organizing resource is from War Research Info Service,
March 1992 (Packet #4).  Copyright 1992 University Conversion
Project.  Feel free to reprint with credit.  Please also add: "Published
by University Conversion Project, Box 748, Cambridge, MA  02142.
Tel. (617)  354-9363.  Info free with SASE; sample issue $3"

Dismantling ROTC...
by Tom Albanese, Kent State University
University Conversion Project

	Campus activity aimed at liberating schools from the grips of
militarism has traditionally targeted ROTC programs.  At the
height of anti-ROTC activism, 1970, students on hundreds of
campuses made it physically clear that ROTC was no longer
welcome at institutions of "higher" learning.  Although enrollment
has picked up since 1973 and the program grew quickly in the
early 1980s, committed activists have once again put ROTC on the
defensive.
	The most widespread recent charge against ROTC is its
discriminatory policy barring lesbians, gays and bisexuals from
service.  Based on homophobic and disproven beliefs the policy
stands as one of the last official barriers to equal access to the
military.  Of course there are many unofficial institutionalized and
attitudinal barriers that non-straight-white-males have to face
as well.  For instance, within the services women face suspicion of
and/or persecution for being Queer much more frequently than
men, reflecting the general atmosphere of gender discrimination
pervasive throughout.  While women make up only ten percent of
the services, they comprised 26 percent of the 1050 service
members discharged due to allegations regarding sexual
preference between Sept.  30, 1987 and Oct.  1, 1988 [source:
ACLU Packet].
	Fighting official discrimination from a campus perspective,
many university presidents have written DoD officials in response
to growing grass-roots pressure and a rising tide of student and
faculty government resolutions calling for change.  The DoD's
policy places ROTC programs in direct conflict with state and
University regulations against discrimination on the basis of
sexual orientation.  However, DoD officials including Dick Cheney
adamantly refuse to review their policy.  Moreover, a recent
decision in Federal court upheld the ban on lesbians, gays and
bisexuals by refusing to reinstate an ex-Naval Academy
midshipman booted for his alleged sexual-orientation.  In the
mean time, campus-based pressure is mounting as it becomes
undeniably clear that polite procedural methods of change are in-
effective and disempowering.
	Of course, fighting to abolish manifest and latent dis-
crimination need not indicate our approval of the military in its
present form.  For tactical reasons, we may not wish to put anti-
militarism at the core of our campaign.  Remember that the forms
of discrimination present in the military are related to the role
the military serves, both within our country and in its use by our
government abroad.  Eliminating another barrier to access to the
military will not in itself affect the way in which the military is
used.  But by prying open the iron doors of ignorance, eradicating
institutionalized oppression, and empowering those able to make
military ranks representative of society in general, we come one
step closer to humanizing an institution built for and controlled
by a privileged segment of society.
	While ROTC remains on your campus anti-Queer government
policies and discriminatory attitudes are passively sanctioned.  In
addition, militaristic problem-solving becomes further
entrenched as a legitimate component of the academic setting.
Uncritical acceptance of ROTC permits the DoD and the services
to circumvent normal academic channels of review and approval
for instructors' credentials, course materials, and sometimes
positions within faculty government.  At UCLA last year faculty
and students fought this privilege and compromise of academic
values.  They argued against allowing ROTC courses to serve as
credit towards a degree, as most campuses do, and the automatic
representation of ROTC instructors on their Academic Senate
while qualified undergraduate lecturers were officially excluded.
"The military has a privileged role at the University of California,
and democracy be damned," conclude professors Katherine King
and Julia Wrigley.
	The time is long overdue to say goodbye to ROTC once and for
all.  The privilege it receives, the discrimination it dishes out, and
the anachronistic Cold War policies which it aspires to uphold
make it a campus entity we can no longer afford to ignore.

WHAT CAN WE DO??

ONE - A first step in any "Goodbye ROTC" campaign is to gather
resources.  Listed on the next page are some organizations who
offer tools for and experience in effectively combating ROTC.
The ACLU's packet is perhaps the most comprehensive.  Raising
campus awareness of the issues involved is critical.  Information
campaigns that are creative and consistent are typically the most
effective.  Expose the contradictions between ROTC policy and
university/state/ local  anti-discrimination policies.
TWO -  Pepper your efforts with direct action.  Target the ROTC
offices by holding a sit-in, stage a mock trial to judge their
policies or their complicity in unjust wars, disable their phone
lines or the administration's through non-stop calling for a few
hours (ask pointed questions and don't use your home phone),
disrupt administrative meetings with creative demonstrations,
etc.
THREE - Be sensitive to the needs of low-income people.  State
and Federal student aid has been reduced or converted to loan
programs over the last ten to fifteen years.  Because so many
students depend financially on ROTC it is imperative that we
suggest alternative sources of financial assistance.  The anti-
ROTC discrimination movement has been criticized on some
campuses for failing to promote alternative funding sources.
Fortunately, the prospects for shifting ROTC funding to civilian
scholarships are greatly improved with the end of the cold war.
University administrations can also be pressured to offer
scholarships for students faced with no hope of attending school
unless they enroll in ROTC, or who cannot receive ROTC
scholarships because of their sexual-orientation.
FOUR - As awareness grows so should public debate.  Many
schools, as already mentioned, have criticized and/or rejected
the presence of ROTC through student and faculty government
resolutions.  The point is to put pressure on the administration to
speak out publicly against ROTC policy and what it represents.  At
some schools students and faculty have succeeded in having their
Board of Regents review the situation.  Using formal procedural
channels helps to compound the pressure building against the DoD
by way of outspoken university officials.  It is our task to create
the initial momentum.
FIVE - Support gays and lesbians who have been denied access to
ROTC or  expelled from the program.  Many times ex-ROTC
students have been ordered to repay the scholarship monies they
were awarded.  School administrations can soften this insult
added to injury by offering to pay not only what the ROTC has the
nerve to ask for, but for a comparable scholarship award to the
student.
SIX - Demand that until ROTC is either removed or their policy
changes that their discriminatory policy is mentioned in all ROTC
and university promotional material.  At the University of
Wisconsin, Madison, and Washington University (St. Louis, MO), for
example, such steps have been proposed.  MIT brochures now
mark the nondescrimination policy with a footnote, which explains
the ROTC exception.
SEVEN - If official condemnation is achieved, continue agitation
for ROTC removal and its replacement with larger Peace Studies
Programs, Gay and Lesbian Studies Programs, and civilian full-
tuition scholarships.  This activity  will help keep the issue alive
on campus and extinguish the disempowering effects of
bureaucratic attitudes - "We did what you wanted us to do, now
let's wait and see."  Sorry, that's not enough.

Recommended Publications

o	"Shape Up or Ship Out: Opposing ROTC Discrimination on
College Campuses," by Richard Villasenor.  A comprehensive
guide for campus activists, including: strategy, tactics,
arguments, step-by-step approach.  Copies available from the
University Conversion Project  ($3) or as part of ACLU packet.

o	Fighting Back.  Edited by Joseph Schuman and Kathleen Gilberd
(1985).  A legal guide on Lesbian and Gay draft, military and
veteran's issues.  Copies distributed by Midwest Committee
for Military Counseling, 343 S. Dearborn #1113, Chicago, IL
60604, (312) 939-3349.

**** sidebar begins here ****
DoD POLICY ON HOMOSEXUALITY
(Directive 1332.14)

"Homosexuality is incompatible with military service.  The
presence in the military environment of persons who engage in
homosexual conduct or who, by their statements, demonstrate a
propensity to engage in homosexual conduct, seriously impairs
the accomplishment of the military mission.  The presence of such
members adversely affects the ability of the Armed Forces to
maintain discipline, good order, and morale; to foster mutual
trust and confidence among service members; to ensure the
integrity of the system of rank and command; to facilitate
assignment and worldwide deployment of service members who
frequently must live and work under close conditions affording
minimal privacy; to recruit and retain members of the armed
forces; to maintain the public acceptability of military service;
and to prevent breaches of security.  Homosexual acts are crimes
under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
_______________________________
*A homosexual act means bodily contact, actively undertaken or
   passively permitted, between member of the same sex for
   the purpose of satisfying sexual desires."
*Discharge for homosexuality can result from:
	l) committing homosexual acts;
	2) attempting to commit homosexual acts;
	3) stating the desire or intent to commit homosexual acts.
*Service members have also been recommended for discharge
for
  associating with civilian homosexuals."

(caption) The DoD was never a shy homophobe

RESOURCES

Anti-ROTC Organizations

o	Lesbian and Gay Rights Project, American Civil Liber-
ties Union -132 West 43rd Street, NY, NY 10036, (212)944-
9800, ext. 545.  Organizer Packet available for $20.  Several
hundred pages long, including: current update on campus
activity opposing ROTC discrimination; relevant articles;
strategies for action; key documents, including DoD PERSEREC
report; history of ROTC and more.
o	Military Freedom Project, National Gay and Lesbian
Task Force - 1734 Fourteenth St. NW, Washington, DC 20009,
(202) 332-6483.  Has a number of low cost resources available
related to ROTC and the military.
o	ROTC/JROTC Clearinghouse, War Resisters League - 339
Lafayette St., NY, NY 10012, (212) 228-0450.  Provides "ROTC
Dismantling Kit" - a resource for developing campaigns,
including: step-by-step guide; history of ROTC; questions to
ask, etc. plus "ROTC:  The Militarization of Students" brochure.
o	Military Law Task Force, National Lawyers Guild - 1168
Union St. #202, San Diego, CA 92101, (619) 233-1701.  Provide
educational materials, legal research and support, speakers,
and has bimonthly newsletter.
o	Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders - P.O. Box 218,
Boston, MA  02112, (617)  426-1350.  Provides legal assistance;
supports anti-ROTC organizing.
o	Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Veterans of
America (GLBVA), - 1350 North 37th Place, Milwaukee, WI
53208, (414) 342- 6543.  Assistance for servicemembers in
matters pertaining to discrimination, harassment, and less-
than-honorable discharges on the basis of sexual-orientation.
Callers guaranteed personal response within 24 hours if they
leave a recorded message.  Anonymity and security assured if
requesting legal information or are currently under
investigation.
o	Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc. - 666
Broadway, NY, NY 10012, (212)995-8585.  Publishing in-
formation on laws relating to Gays, Lesbians and Bisexuals in
the military.

Peace Studies Resources

o	Consortium of Peace Research and Development
(CoPRaD) - George Mason Univ., Fairfax, VA 22030-4444,
(703)993-3639.  Network of Peace Studies programs, organi-
zations and individuals for ongoing exchange of info. across
research, education and action.  Assistance in curriculum
development, program evolution, etc..  National conference
August 12-16, San Francisco State Univ.; bimonthly newsletter
and journal.
o	Peace Studies Association - 1201 17th St., IBS #5, Suite
#11, Campus Box 471, Univ. of CO., Boulder, CO 80309-0471,
(303) 492-5105.  Organization of college and univ. academic
peace, conflict, justice and global security programs.  Packet
available detailing different types of programs; dissertations
on program development also available.

Lesbian & Gay Studies

o	Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies (CLAGS) - c/o Martin
Duberman, The Graduate Center, City Univ. of NY, 33 West 42
St., NY, NY 10036, (212)642-2110.  Research center and
clearinghouse; sponsors symposia, conferences and programs;
publishes semi-annual newsletter; examining multi-level
curriculum reforms and is preparing pilot studies and syllabi to
assist in creation of courses. New edition of Martin Duberman's
book About time: Exploring the Gay Past, (N.A.L. Dutton), has
useful, extensive bibliography.
o	David Halperin, MIT, (617)253-5038.  Initiated seminar on Les-
bian/Gay Studies at MIT, working on curriculum development.
o	Eve Kossosky Sedgwick, Duke University, (919)549-0661.
Teaches graduate course in Queer Theory, Gay/Lesbian
Literary Criticism. Author of An Epistemology of the Closet,
(Univ. of CA Press, 1990).
o	Lesbian and Gay Studies Newsletter, - Modern Language
Association.  To subscribe contact Jack Yegaer, Treas., GLCML/
Dept. of French and Italian, Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham, NH
03824.  $5 student subscriptions.  The Modern Language
Association is also working on a resource guide for Les-
bian/Gay Studies.

DoD Discrimination Articles

o	"For Gay People in the Military, Lives of Secrecy and Despair,"
New York Times, 4/10/90, p.A-1, D-20.
o	"Gay Groups Suggest Marines Selectively Prosecute Women,"
New York Times, 12/4/88.
o	"Justices Refuse to Hear Challenge to Military Ban on
Homosexuals," New York Times, 2/27/90, p.A-1, 18.
o	"MIT Provost Urges Defense Secretary to Drop ROTC Ban on
Homosexuals," Chronicle of Higher Education, 4/25/90.
o	"Students Give ROTC the Boot Over Anti-Gay Policy," The
Advocate, #561, 10/9/90, p.42.
o	"The Pentagon's Fight to Keep Gays Away," U.S. News and World
Report, 11/20/89, p.57.
o	"Navy is Urged to Root Out Lesbians Despite Abilities," New
York Times, 9/2/90.
o	"Challenge to Military's Anti-Gay Stance Found in report
Dismissed by Pentagon," Los Angeles Times, 10/23/89.
o	"Rethinking DoD Policy on Gays: Studies Shelved by Pentagon
Suggest Blanket Exclusion is Unjustified," Washington Post,
11/6/89.
o	"ROTC Under Siege for Ousting," New York Times, 5/6/90.

NOTE:  the printed version of this packet contains additional
graphics and charts regarding ROTC, peace studies, women's
studies, ethnic studies, and lesbigay studies.