Liebowitz holds recruitment forum

Author: Brian Fung

President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz sought to deflect criticism for his stance on military recruitment practices at an open forum in McCullough Social Space on Nov. 26. During the hour-and-a-half discussion, Liebowitz defended the administration's decision to allow the U.S. Marine Corps to hold an informational recruitment session at the College on Nov. 13.

Liebowitz cited a variety of reasons to support his position, stressing that giving the Marine Corps permission to visit the campus did not amount to a sacrifice of the College's liberal values, as some claim.

"Our policy speaks for itself as far as where we stand as an institution," said Liebowitz.

On the day of the Corps' visit, student representatives from the Middlebury Open Queer Alliance (MOQA) staged a peaceful demonstration beside the Marines' promotional table that had been set up outside Ross Dining Hall. Those who participated in the protest claimed to oppose the federal policy known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT), which permits homosexual individuals to serve in the military but prohibits them from revealing their sexual orientation. Demonstrators also called on Liebowitz to follow through on his pledge to hold the open forum on military recruitment, which until recently had been slow to develop.

Monday's audience was largely composed of faculty and staff, many of whom had been pressuring the administration to denounce DADT since 2005, when the Marine Corps had first visited the College at the invitation of two students planning to join the armed services upon graduation. Those who spoke at the meeting demanded that Liebowitz explain his rationale for allowing a discriminatory organization to come to campus - an act that some perceived as a direct violation of the College's policies promoting openness and tolerance.

"[We're] aiding and abetting an agency which practices discrimination," said Professor of Mathematics Mike Olinick. "Giving the military access to our facilities is discriminatory policy."

Yet Liebowitz countered that administration critics were conflating military policy with College policy. That the armed forces were opposed to gays and lesbians did not mean that in allowing such services to recruit, the College was condoning military prejudice, he said.

"Pointing the anger at the College is missing the mark," said Liebowitz. "It's a very easy way to express one's outrage and opposition."

The issue of DADT and military recruitment on college campuses raises questions about the educational community's role in social movements. Liebowitz sparred with dissenters over whether liberal arts institutions should always celebrate a diversity of ideas, even if some of those ideas may run contrary to the liberal arts agenda. Opponents argued that although different perspectives on an issue can be valuable, discussing discrimination in particular as an intellectual exercise is outrageous because such bias violates basic human liberties in the first place.

"It's not okay when you're finding plurality of opinion in an inherently discriminatory group," said Christine Bachman '09 in an interview. "That's really weak."

Bachman pressed administration officials to reach out to students and make decision-making processes more transparent. Though Liebowitz said he consulted a number of organizations before coming to a final decision about the College's military recruiting policy - including the Student Government Association and the Community Council - Bachman claimed that her access to Old Chapel came chiefly by virtue of her position as a MOQA co-president. And while Liebowitz declared that a post about military recruiting on his blog, "Ron on Middlebury," has so far received more than 160 hits, only one individual, Database Administrator Heidi Schuerger, has articulated a response.

The call to increase communication between the administration and the rest of the community is a perennial one at the College. Students complain that major decisions regarding student life are often made without their consent and to the detriment of their ability to socialize. Yet some officials have expressed, typically with equal frustration, that no matter how many outlets they provide for student feedback, few take advantage of them. Liebowitz' blog is only the latest example.

Administrators found the same condition at Monday's meeting, where only a handful of students turned out for the discussion. But Liebowitz sought to engage those who attended, and said that while DADT seems firmly entrenched for now, several Congressional contacts have suggested to him that it may be possible to weaken it - or the Solomon Amendment that supports it - if a Democratic candidate wins the presidential election next fall.