In today’s society, equality is a concept that we as Americans to heart. In this country, women have fought for and won a rightful position in the workplace, as well as the right to vote. African Americans have fought for and won the civil rights that every race and creed deserves. With a Declaration of Independence that states that all men are created equal, it is sadly hypocritical that we still have a military with a policy which supports the discrimination of a specific group of people.
Since the adaptation of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” a measure passed in 1993 by President Bill Clinton to address homosexuality in the military, colleges across the nation have been indirectly forced to accept this discriminatory policy by allowing military personnel onto their premises and providing them with aid in recruiting new individuals. I believe colleges are forced into compliance, regardless of their own policies, by the threat of the removal of vital funding by the federal government. This situation demonstrates the Power of the Purse, a concept that bullies participants into negating their personal beliefs for the protection of their personal finances.
Until the policy of DADT is repealed, college campuses should not be coerced into allowing military recruiters onto campus.
DADT is the United States military’s policy addressing homosexuality within its organization. “Don’t ask” implies the instruction to not ask of one’s sexual orientation, while “Don’t tell” implies the instruction to not tell of one’s sexual orientation. Breaching these codes can result in a discharge from the military.
Referred to as a “benign gentleman’s agreement, with discretion providing the key to job security,” by the Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights, Inc., DADT is a failing policy waiting to give way to the rising tide of social equity. FAIR went on to add that “discretion in the form of mandated silence is itself a form of oppression and discrimination.”
In 2005, FAIR brought suit against the government on the grounds of free speech violations and was heard by the Supreme Court in the case Rumsfeld v. FAIR. In an 8-0 vote, the Supreme Court upheld the ruling that no free speech infringements were found and that the federal government could withhold funding to universities who refused to allow military recruiters on their campus.
Since that time other lawsuits have been filed against the government, the most successful being brought by the Log Cabin Republicans, the largest gay Republican organization in the nation. In 2010, six years after the suit was filed, Judge Virginia A. Phillips ruled that DADT was unconstitutional and in violation of the first and fifth amendments. The ruling has yet to be applied federally.
Locally, De Anza College students are doing their part to limit the role of recruiters on campus. The Students for Justice club has been actively planning a proposal to present to the De Anza Student Body. Ellison Libiran, a member of SFJ, stated: “Our wish is to have them recruit on a table in one spot of the school. They cannot walk around or approach students, they have to be approached.” A suggestion such as this limits the exposure students receive from military recruiters, while interested students will still have a source of information available to them on campus.
In a time such as this, which is marked by heated debate on both sides of the hot-button issue of homosexuality and its place in society, the last thing our nation needs is a college system backed into a corner with contradicting actions. College campuses are the nation’s hotbed for the next generation’s societal direction; the students of today dictate the America of tomorrow. For the sake of our nation’s many tomorrows, we cannot afford to sway the students of today by the policies of yesterday.
