College Politics - you decide!

[Cyclotron]

Enough with this national/international politics stuff. Everyone knows all politics is local - in this case, local, and laughably juvenile! Or is it? I present to you developments going on at my college, as regards to Army recruiters on campus. Here's the skinny.

Up to now, the Army has been allowed to have recruitment booths, etcetera, on campus just like any other business or firm. The unfortunately acronymned ASWC (Associated Students of Whitman College) Senate, however, decided to pass a resolution prohibiting the Army from recruiting on campus. This is known as the also unfortunately acronymned "RUDE Act," standing for "The Restricting Unjust and Discriminatory Employers Act."

The relevent text of the Act:

...
WHEREAS the United States Military and associated agencies not limited to but including the Department of Defense maintain a policy expressly forbidding the service of openly gay, transgendered, lesbian or bisexual individuals in such departments

WHEREAS Article VII of the Constitution of the Associated Students of Whitman College states that no discriminatory organization shall receive support from ASWC Congress and that the rights enjoyed by ASWC members must not be denied on the basis of, not limited to, but including sexual orientation;

THEREFORE, be it Resolved by the Senate of the Associated Students of Whitman College that:

(1) All personnel representing a department of the United States Armed Forces or the Department of Defense are prohibited from engaging in recruitment activity for related agencies and departments, for either active or non-active duty, on the campus of Whitman College;
...

So what's the verdict, Apolyton? If you were a senator in ASWC, how would you vote?

[Q Classic]

The Armed Forces are a career choice for some.

I'd vote against the bill.

Especially so if Whitman allows booths for things like the FBI, CIA, NASA, or NKVA.

Indeed, the first three are discriminatory based on intelligence.

[JohnT]

What authority does ASWC actually have to (dis)allow this, or is it just another whiny-ass student group that thinks they're doing something that people give a **** about, but aren't?

[Cyclotron]

Originally posted by JohnT
What authority does ASWC actually have to (dis)allow this, or is it just another whiny-ass student group that thinks they're doing something that people give a **** about, but aren't?

ASWC is the official College Senate, it's not an ad-hoc student group. Whether they are whiny-asses or not is another matter.

It has been argued by the college Treasurer that, since ASWC does not technically own or administer any part of the Reid Campus Center, where career booths are typically set up, ASWC does not have the authority to ban anyone from the center. However, as ASWC has fairly broad powers and isn't really challenged by "grown-up" college authorities on such matters, that may not matter. The Act goes further than that, however, limiting recruitment activity - not just booths, but recruiters. I spoke with an Army recruiter on campus last year as a favor to a friend of mine going into the Army; this apparently would no longer be allowed under the RUDE Act, despite the fact that I was the one who invited him. Whether ASWC would have actually done anything about it is another matter; I suspect what they're really after are the Army booths on campus, not individual students meeting with recruiting agents.

[Cyclotron]

Originally posted by Q Cubed
Especially so if Whitman allows booths for things like the FBI, CIA, NASA, or NKVA.

Indeed, the first three are discriminatory based on intelligence.

I'm not aware of any booths for those agencies, though it is possible we have had FBI/CIA recruiters - poly sci is a strong suit of the college, and professors in the department have told me that some students have gone into intelligence careers.

[JohnT]

Bizarre. You mean the "student government" at my school actually might've had some sort of quasi-power over some things?

Whoda thunk?

Anyway, if they don't have the authority, and it hasn't been duly granted them by the State, I'm not too sure why they should have a say in limiting the life options of their fellow students. Whoever is in charge of Reid Hall ought to point that out.

[Apocalypse]

I think it is really quite elitest to ban army recruiters. Most people join (frequently the national guard) because they want to be able to pay for college, not because they want to kill Iraqi children. What exactly do they think they are really accomplishing?

[JohnT]

There's that, too. So they are not only "forbidding" people from pursuing career options, they could also be denying fellow students the opportunity to pay for their education.

[Cyclotron]

Originally posted by JohnT
Bizarre. You mean the "student government" at my school actually might've had some sort of quasi-power over some things?

Whoda thunk?

You have as much power as you think you do, of course

Anyway, if they don't have the authority, and it hasn't been duly granted them by the State, I'm not too sure why they should have a say in limiting the life options of their fellow students.

The state? I'm under the impression that Whitman College has control over what recruiters are on Whitman College grounds. The question is whether ASWC has that authority; I don't know why the State would have anything to do with the matter.

[Spiffor]

Down with the military!

[mrmitchell]

Originally posted by JohnT
What authority does ASWC actually have to (dis)allow this, or is it just another whiny-ass student group that thinks they're doing something that people give a **** about, but aren't?

JohnT is such an inspiration for youth to have a voice in the world.

[JohnT]

I was assuming that Whitman is a state chartered school. Didn't take into consideration that it could be a private school.

From its beginning, Whitman College has prized its independence from sectarian and political control. Whitman has remained small in order to facilitate the close faculty-student interaction that is essential to exceptional higher education. In 1913, Whitman became the first college or university in the nation to require undergraduate students to complete comprehensive examinations in their major fields. The installation of a Phi Beta Kappa chapter in 1919, the first for any Northwest college, marked Whitman's growing reputation.

http://www.whitman.edu/content/about/history-of-the-college

[Cyclotron]

Originally posted by Apocalypse
I think it is really quite elitest to ban army recruiters. Most people join (frequently the national guard) because they want to be able to pay for college, not because they want to kill Iraqi children. What exactly do they think they are really accomplishing?

The "gay lobby" at Whitman College is much more numerous and powerful than the "army lobby" or even "conservative lobby." That may be the reason; it may also be that the overwhelmingly liberal ASWC Senate wants to "stick it to the man." Or it may be that they genuinely think that their duty is to speak out against discriminitory policies. The timing seems somewhat suspicious to me, however - the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy has been around for some time.

[Cyclotron]

Originally posted by JohnT
I was assuming that Whitman is a state chartered school. Didn't take into consideration that it could be a private school.

My mistake, I should have mentioned that.

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by Apocalypse
I think it is really quite elitest to ban army recruiters. Most people join (frequently the national guard) because they want to be able to pay for college, not because they want to kill Iraqi children. What exactly do they think they are really accomplishing?

If you'd read the opening post you would have realised that the move isn't a protest against the Iraq war (nominally, at least).