UC protest forces military recruiters to leave job fair

Apr 7 2005 12:00AM

By ROGER SIDEMAN

OF THE REGISTER-PAJARONIAN

Protesters at UC Santa Cruz shut down a campus job fair Tuesday, forcing recruiters from the U.S. Armed Forces to exit through the rear of the building, and then re-staffed the military's booths with student activists.

The group of approximately 200 overpowered waiting police, firefighters and campus officials at the fair's entrance, chanting slogans like "Racist, Sexist, Anti-Gay, Hey Recruiters, Go Away!"

Stephanie Andrews, a recruiter for the U.S. Navy, said the protesters had the right to express themselves, but that their efforts would have little effect.

"We're here to promote officer programs which attract people with strong leadership skills," Andrews said. "A few protesters aren't going to stop those people from coming to us."

The military admits it has a manpower problem, particularly in filling the ranks in the 500,000-person regular Army and the 675,000-person Army National Guard and Army Reserve, which have been called upon to carry a large part of the burden of deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan. In a March 23 press conference, Army Secretary Francis Harvey said more recruiters are being sent out to work with young people and their parents. A new advertising agency has been brought in and the maximum enlistment age in the Guard and Reserve has been boosted from 34 to 39.

But, Harvey reiterated, there are no plans to rescind the "don't ask, don't tell'' policy that makes it impossible for gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military.

"It's the only job in the U.S. where you can be fired for being openly gay," said Scott Folletta, a campus organizer with Students Against War.

First-year political theory major Sam Aranke called the Army a "discriminatory institution" and demanded that university officials ban campus recruiters. She said the Career Center, which organized the job fair, is clearly in violation of the spirit and letter of non-discrimination policies upheld by the UC Regents.

The military represented just 3 of 60 job recruiters at the fair, which also included Graniterock and the Peace Corps.

Nanette O'Connor of the Career Center said, "We're just trying to serve students looking for jobs. We have no authority to ban the military. Ninety percent of UCSC students are on financial aid. If we deny them access we're breaking the law.

Federal law says that universities receiving federal aid dollars must allow access to military recruiters. The mandate has been challenged with a lawsuit from a consortium of law schools who say it conflicts with campus policies against discrimination. The case is currently under review by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Also at the protest were members from the Watsonville chapter of the Brown Berets, a 10-year-old peace and social justice organization. The Berets have been helping students at Watsonville High School and Cabrillo College find alternatives to the military's tuition assistance.

Brown Beret Tomas Alejo said, "Recruiters target Latinos because they're the fastest growing population. They target young people of color who don't know the military is involved in illegal operations and are causing atrocities like 100,000 civilian deaths in Iraq."

A former U.S. Marine on hand, Jeremy Combs, expressed his frustration with protesters.

"In order for someone to fully understand the effect of the war on the Iraqi people and the Middle East, they need to be there," said Combs, who served two tours in Iraq.

Third year community studies major Barn Horn observed the protest from the outskirts, commenting, "I have a sneaking suspicion (the protesters) don't know what they're talking about. They're all just hurt from Bush rewinning the Presidency."

But organizers from Students Against War celebrated their efforts as a victory, having accomplished their goal to boot military recruiters off campus. The Career Center and Judicial Affairs Office granted the group a meeting to discuss the future of military recruitment on campus.

©Register-Pajaronian 2005

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