COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Military Service: General
STUDENTS GREET MILITARY WITH RALLY AND QUEER KISS-IN
Erin Gilday, Santacruz Independant Media Center
October 19, 2005
Today, October 18th, 2005 UCSC Students Against War(SAW) organized a nonviolent rally and Queer Kiss-in
against the presence of military recruiters on the UC
Santa Cruz campus.
About forty students participated in a Queer Kiss-in
in protest of the military's discriminatory
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. The Queer
Kiss-in was staged in front of the military's tables
during the march and rally. From inside the fair,
kissers were able to effectively block access to
military recruiters without shutting down the entire
career fair.
When asked about why the Queer Kiss-in was the most
effective tactic to use against the military, Steve S.
a third year Literature major answered, "The kiss
an act of love, is fundamentally antithetical
to the military as an institution of war and death and
strife."
Outside of the University Center over a hundred
students rallied against the recruiters and in support
of those participating in the kiss-in on the inside.
The students were flanked by supportive faculty and
staff, many of who wore "UCSC Faculty Against War"
badges.
The rally at the College Center lasted for the
duration of the career fair and included speeches by
students and faculty members such as UC Professor
Bettina Aptheker, music, as well as an impromptu
question-and-answer session between SAW organizers and
rally participants.
As they rallied, the students presented a list of five
demands to the UCSC administration. They demanded
that:
All military recruiters leave the Job Fair
immediately,
UCSC join dozens of prestigious law schools
nation-wide in the Supreme Court case FAIR v Rumsfeld
to oppose the Solomon Amendment, which forces colleges
to allow military recruiters, even though it violates
their own nondiscrimination policies,
UCSC Faculty and Administration write a resolution
promising to officially ban recruiters from campus as
soon as the Solomon Amendment is overturned,
UCSC Chancellor Denice D. Denton make a public
statement denouncing military recruitment as a
violation of campus non-discrimination policies,
affirming the campus will to ban recruiters, once
legally able to do so.
Second year student, Tom Fleming, who took part in the
rally said, "I feel that we really made a strong
point today, our goals are tangible and the pressure
is now on the administration to formulate a strategy
that will be in support of the student body."
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