COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: War Protests: General
Students protest military recruiters
Poh Si Teng, SanFrancisco Chronicle
October 27, 2005
SAN
FRANCISCO — Student activists at San Francisco State University
on Wednesday demanded military recruiters be barred from campus and
advocated Proposition I — a declaration opposing military
recruitment in public schools, colleges and universities.
It was a solemn protest, with about 200 students crowding around
Malcolm X Plaza in the damp weather, holding anti-war placards and
listening to speakers hail the largely symbolic measure on the San
Francisco Nov. 8 ballot.
"One might think that (Proposition I) might not have any teeth. But in
the context of counter-recruitment and the anti-war movement, it means
a lot," said Ragina Johnson, 31, campaign director of College Not
Combat, an anti-war organization.
Under the 1996 Solomon Amendment, schools, colleges and universities
would be denied federal funding if they prohibit military recruiters
from having access to students.
"The university is required by federal law to give military recruiters
the same access that we give to any recruiter," said Ellen Griffin, San
Francisco State's director of public affairs and publications.
She said San Francisco State would lose $20 million in federal funds
for research and student activities if it denied recruiters on campus.
"We must and will continue to uphold federal law," Griffin said.
Matt Gonzalez, former president of the San Francisco Board of
Supervisors who spoke at the event, said Proposition I would show San
Franciscans are against recruiters at schools. He said some East Coast
institutions are already challenging the Solomon Amendment.
"There is no reason why we can't fight it in the West Coast," Gonzalez said.
Wednesday's demonstration echoed a similar event in March when student
protesters forced military recruiters to leave a campus job fair.
During that event, recruiters were shouted off campus, and the
university administration subsequently threatened students with fines.
As it turned out Wednesday, recruiters were not on campus. Students
said they felt they had been misinformed about the date. The recruiters
will be on campus today, but students cannot legally hold a
demonstration because of notification requirements.
San Francisco State Republicans said the protest would not stop military recruitment on campus.
"This is absolutely futile," said Rob Journey, 22, treasurer of the
university's Republicans group. "It's not going to happen because the
school needs the money."
He added that anti-recruitment activists would have been more effective
if they had developed a statewide proposition on the recruitment issue.
The Republicans group said students are old enough to decide whether they should join the military.
Some bystanders said they are disappointed with how the school's administration is handling the situation.
"It's one thing to be forced to allow the recruiters on campus, but
it's another to guide recruiters on campus and assist them," said W.
Gordon Kaupp, a member of the National Lawyers Guild in the Bay Area,
which supports Proposition I. The guild is representing two San
Francisco State student activists on probation for previous political
activism.
Although Proposition I is symbolic at this stage, Carlos Villarreal,
executive director of the National Lawyers Guild in the Bay Area, said
its passage would strengthen and add legitimacy to the cause.
"It makes them feel like they are on the right side of the issue," he said.
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