“An injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” That’s how Martin Luther King, Jr. put it. And that is why students all over America should work to stop young people from enlisting in the military.
And now, here is my statement, which I read before the Student Government. It sums up all the many arguments college students face when challenging this war and gives you all the reasons why youth should stop fighting this war.
Statement before the Columbia College Student Government Association
Thank you to all who have interrupted their busy lives to come here today and hear the presentation of this momentous resolution. And thank you to the SGA who has granted me the privilege to speak and be recognized.
As of right now, the military can seek and obtain what no other employer on campus can get: assistance without compliance with a school’s requirement of adherence to its nondiscrimination policy.
An equal opportunity clause that can be found on the Columbia College website states, “Admission and practices of the College are free of any discrimination based on age, race, color, creed, sex, religion, handicap, disability, sexual orientation, and national or ethnic origin.” Yet, that is not entirely true because the College allows a military career center to operate on campus and its operation is discriminatory to GLBT students at Columbia year-round since it follows a policy we are all too familiar with known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
A Columbia Chronicle article printed in October of 2007 said, “The Solomon Act gives the Department of Defense the power to deny federal funding to institutions of higher learning if they prohibit or prevent Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) or military recruitment on campus.”
It is my understanding that Columbia College is a private four-year liberal arts college. What federal funding does Columbia College receive that would be lost if the U.S. Career Center was asked to leave?
If federal funding is what’s stopping this career center from leaving, than it must be said that it is wrong for the federal government to be using its fiscal power to dictate what schools can teach or how it is to conduct affairs. When federal dollars come with strings attached to educational content and management, those strings are pulled by government officials and bureaucrats in Washington, and when we trade our academic freedom for dollars, no area of educational governance is safe from intrusion.
For the purposes of argument and discussion and until I am able to find out just how much Columbia College’s hands are tied by the Solomon Act, let’s suppose that Columbia is not bound by federal funding and that whether or not this U.S. Career Center is allowed to remain on campus is an issue of whether or not Columbia students think there is a good reason for it to be a part of our campus environment.
Under that supposition, it begs us to ask the following questions.
If the U.S. Career Center is there to give students an opportunity to apply for a career that will grant students money for a college education after service in the military---a college education they may not be able to afford or want to pay for out of pocket, than why in 2005 did Department of Defense records show 57% of those who apply for G.I. Bill benefits do not receive them and the average net payment for those who did receive money was $2200? Why does one out of three, according to the Commission on Service Members & Veterans Transition Assistance, never see any of the money? And why does the military under the G.I. Bill only offer money for 3 years when it takes most students 4 years to get a degree anywhere?
If the U.S. Career Center is there to offer a service or opportunity to join the military, than what are the implications for joining the military? In addition to possibly not receiving the education students were enticed with so that they would join the military, Documents from the Veterans’ Health Administration, reported on by CBS News, reveal that, “According to data from 45 states, 6,256 men and women who had served in the armed forces took their own lives in 2005 - that's 120 suicides every week.”
An AP news article in January 2007 titled, “Soldiers may not get needed mental help,” showed that 17% of all returning soldiers are suffering from PTSD. Approximately 1.5 million soldiers have served in Iraq, which means over 250,000 are suffering from PTSD.
Perhaps, Columbia College should take the lead, and in the same way that one might advocate the way to alleviate rising health care costs is to engage in preventive health care, perhaps Columbia College should take action to prevent students from turning into PTSD cases.
If the U.S. Career Center is an element that is supposed to enrich Columbia College’s campus, than what is it doing to enhance our campus environment?
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
