There is a lot of controversy at UMBC at the moment regarding the placement of an Army ROTC (Reserve Officers Training Corps) contingent in the school. There is some major resistance to the program, as show by an online petition against it. However, there is also a sizable group of people who are for (or perhaps not opposed) to ROTC being present on campus, as show by a group on Facebook.
The hoopla surrounding it is based on the fact that there is discrimination of homosexuals in the military and UMBC is supposedly a "homosexual friendly" environment. And while I support the campaign to grant homosexuals the marital and legal rights that I enjoy, perhaps this has come a bit too far.
As it stands, anyone at UMBC who wants to participate in an ROTC program has to go to Maryland - College Park (for the Air Force ROTC) or Johns Hopkins University (for the rest, I believe). This is a ridiculous inconvenience. If UMBC is to be considered a "diverse" college in any stretch of the manner, then it should tolerate a department on campus for ROTC. And while they can put certain restrictions on it to keep everyone fearing a militarization of the campus at ease, the option should be available. In addition, having ROTC on campus could open up many more options for education on UMBC.
The most important thing here is that no one is forcing anyone to join the military by having ROTC on campus. But it at leasts gives a wider option for those who do.
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2 comments:
If you want an "opressed group friendly" campus you also must accept a "bigot friendly campus". no one should be protected from having their feelings hurt, and a private organization may exclude whoever they wish.
gays should get out of the closet and into the streets, not out of the closet to hide at a university with strict rules protecting them
The issue is that the military isn't exactly considered a private organization, unlike the boy scouts.
And I do agree; it has to go both ways.
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