One victory, another ongoing struggle
Campus military recruiters in hot water
Bryan G. Pfeifer


October 23, 2005

After being "banned" from campus, Charles Peterson has been reinstated at Holyoke Community College. This victory for the entire counter-recruitment and anti-war movement came only after massive worldwide support for Peterson and resistance actions, including a march and rally on campus Oct. 6.

The attempt to bar Peterson from the campus where he studies and works came after a counter-recruiting action there on Sept. 29. He and other members of the HCC Anti-War coalition were brutalized and Maced by campus and state cops as they were protesting Army National Guard recruiting at the student cafeteria. They also focused on the Pentagon’s bigoted "Don’t ask, don’t tell" policy, which essentially bars LGBT persons from enlisting—in violation of the college’s and the state’s non-discrimination laws. (http://www.campusantiwar.net)

The day after this action, Peterson was visited at his home by two state police officers, who told him he was banned from campus and would be arrested for trespassing if he entered public HCC property. Peterson, a leading member of the coalition, is vice president for academic affairs on the Student Senate and is employed at HCC.

The movement started a campaign that resulted in well over 1,000 calls, emails and faxes from all over the world to college president William Messner. Many anti-war and other progressive organizations also helped by sending out statements and announcements to thousands of members on their list serves or posting these on websites, among other support actions.

The Anti-War coalition is still demanding an immediate, unconditional public apology from the college; a pledge of non-retaliation against activists; a thorough and impartial investigation; and a ban keeping military recruiters off campus.

Hands off Tariq Khan!

Tariq Khan, a Pakistani student at George Mason University in Virginia and a former U.S. Air Force member, was assaulted by police and an ROTC member while protesting Marine recruiters on campus Sept. 29. Evidently they didn’t like the sign this veteran was carrying: "Recruiters lie, don’t be deceived."

An ROTC member ripped off his sign and police were seen choking the peaceful protester and dragging him, handcuffed, to a police car after he refused to move from the recruiter’s table area. Khan has been charged with disorderly conduct, trespassing at his own university and resisting arrest. His court date is set for Nov. 14.

Like Peterson, Khan is receiving widespread support.

An Oct. 3 rally at George Mason to demand immediately dropping the charges against Khan drew over 150 students and allies. Hundreds, if not thousands of people, have supported Khan in various ways. This includes 129 faculty members signing a letter calling for an investigation of the police actions and of the school’s policy on First Amendment rights.

Over 550 students, faculty, staff, alum ni, campus community members and other supporters have signed a "Drop all charges!" online petition. (new.petition online.com/gmutariq/petition.html) And the American Civil Liberties Union is defending Khan, who is considering taking legal action against the university.

As a result of this pressure, the university thus far has issued a statement to Khan recognizing that he was staging a peaceful protest and insisting it is committed to students’ rights to free speech on campus; it also pledged to conduct an internal investigation into the conduct of the police officers against the other students involved in the Sept. 29 incident.

Khan himself, like Peterson, is on the front lines in his own defense. At the Oct. 3 rally he declared:

"Now, I’ve got a message for the police, and GMU authorities, and for all of the right-wing goons who helped the police brutalize me or who cheered them on. If by 'don’t cause any more disturbances’ they mean don’t tell students the truth about the military, then I will continually cause disturbances. I will not be bullied or intimidated into silence, I will not respect or obey any order that tells me I can’t exercise my own inalienable rights," said Khan.

"I will continue to stand against war, militarism, occupation and authoritarianism. And I will not acquiesce to fear tactics and bullying and stupidity and hate. The university authorities’ actions against me last Thursday were their way of telling me to shut up. And my answer to them is: 'No, I will not shut up!’ They don’t want me to say recruiters lie. Well I’m going to say it, 'Recruiters lie!,’" concluded Khan.

To support the "Drop all charges, now!" demand, speak your mind to Alan G. Merten, George Mason president, at (703) 993-8700 or mail letters to: Office of the President, George Mason University, 4400 University Dr. MSN 3A1, Fairfax, VA 22030.


any thoughts? recruiters face antiwar student crowd at madison, hcc, and others.
more info on


http://www.campusantiwar.net/

10/25/2005 12:31:47 AM

im having trouble finding any problems with recruiters on campus
i can see arguments for high schools... but universities?

10/25/2005 1:33:14 AM

^ I concur.

10/25/2005 1:36:20 AM

I don't have any problems with recruiters on campus

but I also don't have problems with protesting said recruiters

freedom can be a motherfucker, can't it
but I think we're all adult enough to handle dissenting opinions

10/25/2005 2:24:47 AM

i also see no problems with universities/community colleges not allowing recruiters to come. they shouldn't have to allow the recruiters to come.

10/25/2005 2:28:31 AM

Quote :

"but I think we're all adult enough to handle dissenting opinions"

If only that were true, Snewf. If only that were true......

10/25/2005 2:29:39 AM

^ i dont think it would of been so bad in other times, but in the wake of the war... where young men are getting recruited out for a death sentence,say like in afghan. or iraq, i could see possible anti war protest.

thats one issue the other is diminishing support for bush's unjust war.

10/25/2005 4:23:26 AM

I look forward to seeing GGMon, aaronburro and thebigGirl posting in this thread.

[Edited on October 25, 2005 at 4:38 AM. Reason : among others.]

10/25/2005 4:38:27 AM

No more blinged-outy hummers and rock climbing walls?

10/25/2005 6:55:02 AM

here are some univ/colleges that have booted recruitment--

April 16, 2005

Bronx Students Force Military Recruiters Off Campus For A Third Time
For the third time in recent weeks students protesters at Bronx Community College drove military recruiters off campus. Targeted so far have been recruiters from the Army, Air Force National Guard, and most recently -- on Wednesday -- the Marines. Here is a report w/ photos from one of the earlier anti-recruiter actions in the Bronx. The protests appear to be largely organized by a group called The Revolutionary Reconstruction Club.

April 06, 2005

University of California-Santa Cruz Students Kick Military Recruiters Off Campus


From Santa Cruz Indymedia: On April 5, about 300 UC Santa Cruz students led by Students Against War (SAW) kicked Army, Navy and Marine Corps recruiters out of the annual Career Center Job Fair, marking yet another success for the nation-wide counter-military recruitment campaign. (Call to Action!)... As the march began, a small group of students infiltrated the Job Fair and surrounded recruiter’s tables, chanting and linking arms. This small group was soon joined by more students from the march who pushed their way through front and side doors, chanting, “Whose Campus? Our Campus!” as Job Fair administrations attempted to literally shove them out the door. Ultimately, 100 students were able to surround recruiters’ tables while the remaining 200 marchers stayed outside the Event Center, blocking the entrances and chanting in support of those on the inside.

March 09, 2005

NYC Students Charged With Felonies For Counter-Military Recruitment Protest
CounterRecruiter.net has learned that the New York police have arrested three counter-military recruiters earlier today at City College. Felony charges were filed against two of the students.

Nick Bergreen, Justino Rodriguez and Hadas Thier, all undergraduate students at the City College of New York, were arrested today during a protest at the school. Bergreen and Rodriguez have been charged with felony assault; Thier was charged with obstruction of a government administrator.

According to a press release from supporters of the City College Three, "Hadas Thier, Nick Bergreen, and Justino Rodriguez, along with approximately a dozen other protesters attended a job fair organized by the college, and stood up in front of a National Guard recruitment table chanting anti-war slogans. Private security and campus peace officers immediately surrounded the protesters, pushed them into an empty hallway outside of the job fair, closed the hall door and assaulted two protesters and arrested a third who was taking pictures. The two students who were assaulted are now being charged with felony assault, and the third with obstruction of a government administrator."

A press conference is scheduled for Thursday, March 10, at 100 Centre Street in Manhattan at 4 p.m. The three arrested students are scheduled to attend pending their release


NJ College Student Arrested For Passing Out Anti-Recruitment Fliers
Anti-war activists in New Jersey are urging supporters to contact William Patterson University today, March 9, to protest the recent arrest of student Tom Keenan. On Feb. 28 Keenan was arrested on trespassing charges for handing out anti-recruitment fliers near a military recruitment table. Click here for more information on the campaign.

Actions are being planned at William Patterson for both the day of Keenan's court appearance and for on March 31st when the school hosts a "career day" featuring military recruiters


http://rncwatch.typepad.com/counterrecruiter/counter_recruitment_protests/

im sure there are many more.. anything in nc?

10/25/2005 7:01:51 AM

i dunno what I think about college campuses. I have an emotional dislike for the recruiters being there, but I don't see any logical reason to ban them. highschools - well, let's just say that if i have kids, and they get fucked with like I did, I'll be at the recruiters' offices so fast you won't have time to say lindie england

10/25/2005 7:29:33 AM

had you rather them bring back the draft, or recruit on campus?

10/25/2005 9:27:13 AM

Nobody banned recruiters. Their booth was protested. If you think abortion clinics can be protested, then so can military recruitment centers. I don't think anybody should be allowed to physcally block the space or something. But a dissenting poster nearby is perfectly fine.

I'm also waiting though for the resident shitheads to have their say.

10/25/2005 9:33:47 AM

Quote :

"had you rather them bring back the draft, or recruit on campus?"

those aren't the only two choices; we can do neither.

10/25/2005 9:40:45 AM

^ WE HAVE TO GET NEW BABY KILLERS FROM SOMEWHERE

10/25/2005 9:52:52 AM

Quote :

"University of California-Santa Cruz Students Kick Military Recruiters Off Campus From Santa Cruz Indymedia: On April 5, about 300 UC Santa Cruz students led by Students Against War (SAW) kicked Army, Navy and Marine Corps recruiters out of the annual Career Center Job Fair, marking yet another success for the nation-wide counter-military recruitment campaign. (Call to Action!)... As the march began, a small group of students infiltrated the Job Fair and surrounded recruiter’s tables, chanting and linking arms. This small group was soon joined by more students from the march who pushed their way through front and side doors, chanting, “Whose Campus? Our Campus!” as Job Fair administrations attempted to literally shove them out the door. Ultimately, 100 students were able to surround recruiters’ tables while the remaining 200 marchers stayed outside the Event Center, blocking the entrances and chanting in support of those on the inside."

This sort of shit pisses me off. Its one thing to make some banners, maybe have a chant or two, but to to impede the actions of others and cause a disruption is bullshit. Honestly, its basically like if the governement simply arrested someone any time they held a sign that said something negative or they made arrests any time Greenpeace tried to collect donations at an indie rock show (using force to quiet the opposition or stop them from proceeding) and its not right. The Right to Peaceably Assemble is not carte blanche for harrasment and disruption of others.

10/25/2005 9:54:40 AM

THE MILITARY IS FACING SHORTAGES? WE'RE ALREADY IN AFGHANISTAN, IRAQ, AND HAVE BASES ALL OVER THE WORLD... HWO ARE WE GOING TO SIMULTANEOUSLY INVADE IRAN WITHOUT MORE RECRUITS?

10/25/2005 9:54:58 AM

Quote :

"those aren't the only two choices; we can do neither."

If IBM, Cisco, and Glaxo can all recruit on campus, why can't the Marines? They are a viable employer.

10/25/2005 9:56:02 AM

robots are the answer, but after i-robot im rather worried about that option as well. how about cyborgs grown from aborted fetuses?

[Edited on October 25, 2005 at 10:00 AM. Reason : .]

10/25/2005 10:00:12 AM

Quote :

"If IBM, Cisco, and Glaxo can all recruit on campus, why can't the Marines? They are a viable employer."

i thought you were referring to high school campuses. As I said above, I don't have any logical qualms with them recruiting college students. I don't like it, but there's no logical reason to say it can't happen (unless of course the college says they can't, or the students vote against it somehow)

10/25/2005 10:02:00 AM

Quote :

"If IBM, Cisco, and Glaxo can all recruit on campus, why can't the Marines? They are a viable employer."

Since when has the Armed Forces been EOE?

they hate gays, remember?

10/25/2005 10:08:08 AM

Yeah but they love blacks and latinos, they make great cannon fodder riflemen.

10/25/2005 10:12:34 AM

Quote :

"i thought you were referring to high school campuses. As I said above, I don't have any logical qualms with them recruiting college students. I don't like it, but there's no logical reason to say it can't happen (unless of course the college says they can't, or the students vote against it somehow)"

Gotcha, understand the High School thing.

Quote :

"Since when has the Armed Forces been EOE? they hate gays, remember?"

They don't ask your sexual orientation, remember?

10/25/2005 10:46:13 AM

^i thought they got all hot and bothered if you tell anyone, though

10/25/2005 11:11:07 AM

but they kick you out if you are gay, remember?

10/25/2005 11:11:58 AM

as I understand it from my cousin who's in the army (and who I tried to convince that he should say he's gay to get out of it), you basically have to get caught in mid-coitus with a man to really get kicked out. Don't know how correct that always is, but the point was that people were starting to think of using fake gayness to get out of war

10/25/2005 11:21:11 AM

fucking hippies, just dont talk to them...

10/25/2005 11:24:26 AM

shrug if you really wanted out just get some guy you'll never see again and press your flacid penis near his ass in an obvious place. it'll be uncomfortable, but it'd work.

10/25/2005 12:33:37 PM

military recruiters are definitely welcome here at UNC-A

I just walked over to the career fair

10/25/2005 12:43:06 PM

They're welcome at State, too. One of the few tables I didn't steal a brochure from...

10/25/2005 2:04:59 PM

Say goodbye to all the DoD money your schools used to get for research!

10/25/2005 2:09:24 PM

Quote :

"where young men are getting recruited out for a death sentence,say like in afghan. or iraq, i could see possible anti war protest."

Being sent to Iraq is a death sentence?

10/25/2005 2:15:02 PM

Quote :

"they shouldn't have to allow the recruiters to come."

They don't have to, in general. They do have to let recruiters and ROTC programs exist if they want Federal funding, which seems reasonable to me. You have to do something if you want to get paid. Not that it's Federal's job to fund schools anyway.

Quote :

"I don't think anybody should be allowed to physcally block the space or something. But a dissenting poster nearby is perfectly fine."

Right. But in at least one of the incindents that xyzabc posted, they physically blocked access to the table. I don't recall any incidents of abortion protestors locking arms to block the doors to clinics. And these little shits are getting praised for it by people who are, of course, so terribly concerned with our rights.

Quote :

"you basically have to get caught in mid-coitus with a man to really get kicked out."

My understanding is that this is generally true. In fact, I've heard stories (probably false) about people who were straight but desperately trying to get out of the military filming themselves performing homosexual acts and handing that into their superiors for that very reason. And, from what I understand, the individuals weren't discharged, but rather sent through therapy.

The military doesn't want to lose people, and every survey I've ever seen shows that the large majority of military folks don't give a shit whether or not anybody's gay. At this point I would be interested to see figures on how many people are being discharged for homosexuality. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see that it's zero, or as close as makes no difference -- the few being ousted are probably getting the boot for other reasons (personal vendettas, incompetence that wouldn't normally warrant discharge, etc. -- anything for which homosexuality would just be a convenient excuse).

10/25/2005 4:00:04 PM

Quote :

"I don't recall any incidents of abortion protestors locking arms to block the doors to clinics."

They used to, but I believe that the Supreme Court upheld a decision making it illegal. The lovely irony was that the anti-abortion people were up at arms because the government was telling them what they could and couldn't do with their bodies.

10/25/2005 4:19:27 PM

Quote :

"The Right to Peaceably Assemble is not carte blanche for harrasment and disruption of others."

[/thread]

10/25/2005 4:35:09 PM

Quote :

"My understanding is that this is generally true. In fact, I've heard stories (probably false) about people who were straight but desperately trying to get out of the military filming themselves performing homosexual acts and handing that into their superiors for that very reason. And, from what I understand, the individuals weren't discharged, but rather sent through therapy."

I had a company commander who had this happen to himself years ago. One of his soldiers came to him and told him (flippantly) that he'd have to chapter him out of the Army. To this, the platoon leader then says "If you expect me to believe that, you'd better have pictures or something". The soldier then provided him with pictures the next day and became the 20th or so person this officer had chaptered out of the Army. Although I must admit he was quite good at chaptering people out of the military by that point, so that was probably why he was chaptered.

Quote :

""Recruiters lie, don’t be deceived.""

"Hey, they told me 'Airborne' meant 'Pilot'---those bastards!"

[Edited on October 25, 2005 at 4:50 PM. Reason : .]

10/25/2005 4:48:58 PM