Now more than ever the military seems hard up for bodies. Relying on new advertising techniques and marketing strategies such as rap contests and free magazine subscriptions, the military is invading college campuses across America.
In 1995, a federal law was passed denying any college or university federal funding or aid if they refused military recruiters access to their campus. On Tuesday, the House revised the law to allow recruiters the same access as other employers. Not only are recruiters given access to any campus of their choosing, they also will be given access to any particular student’s information, including address, phone number and school of enrollment, according to The Daily Targum of Rutgers University.
The Solomon Law, named after late Rep. Gerald Solomon, R-N.Y., has caused some turmoil among campus officials who believe that the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy regarding homosexuals is discriminatory. The law violates university guidelines, which don’t allow an employer access if they have discriminatory rules for employment. All employers are required to sign an Equal Employment Opportunity contract before stepping on a campus. The military is exempt from this rule.
“If the military wants ‘equal access’ to American college campuses, let them have it. No other employer in the world would be allowed to recruit on college campuses if they forced gay and lesbian employees to hide their sexuality.
It is most fortunate for the military, then, that they have the resources of the American government to strong-arm universities into ignoring their rampant discrimination,” stated a staff editorial from the Washington Square News.
Our high schools are in their sights as well. Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, high schools must provide private information to recruiters, including the address and phone number of any student, or they face losing millions of dollars in aid. Many believe that the military specifically targets low-performing schools to sell failing students the promise of a future in the military.
The military also has received scrutiny from campuses who say that it is directly targeting minority students. In October 2003, under the campaign “Campus Combat,” the military targeted five east coast schools to find minority recruits to help satisfy its goal of 100,000 new recruits a year, reported The Baltimore Sun. How, you might ask? With a rap contest and free magazine subscriptions.
“We’ve got to be innovative in our approach. We have to be relevant to segments of the market we want to reach,” Col. Thomas Nickerson, the Army’s director of strategic outreach, told The Sun.
An example of this “relevancy” can be seen in the latest edition of The Renegade Rip. A large ad shows three sun-kissed babes partying it up with three totally hip guys on a glowing beach. At the top of the picture is, “Freedom Rocks”, in bold letters at the bottom of the ad, a free T-shirt and DVD is given to anyone who visits the Army National Guard’s Web site. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think there are too many parties on the beach in Iraq.
War is not a business deal. It is life and death. These men and women are not “market segments,” they are our friends and family. Ironically, under the No Child Left Behind Act, private information about young students is being made available to recruiters or the schools could face cuts in federal funding. Because of the Solomon Law, education has become a trap. If students object to this military “outreach” on their campuses, their education will suffer.
Schools should be places of learning, growth and empowerment, not a breeding ground for coffins. It’s time for the military to back off. It’s time to let this new generation make its impact, not on the battlefields, like previous ones, but educationally and globally. Let us have our future.