Senate urges administration to adopt ROTC program

At its Jan. 16 meeting, the SGA passed several new resolutions, including a controversial resolution encouraging the administration to consider the re-instatement of a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program on the College campus.
The resolution, proposed by Brainerd Commons Senator Charlie Arnowitz ’13 not only encouraged the administration to consider the ultimate feasibility of re-instating a ROTC program, but also to consider allowing participation in the affiliate program at the University of Vermont (UVM) to fulfill students credit and distribution requirements at the College.
The ROTC existed at Middlebury College from 1952 through the Vietnam War era, during which time its building was burnt down in a student protest.  Since then, one of the most recent serious discussions about reinstating the program occurred in the aftermath of Sept. 11. At the time, previous Dean of Student Affairs Ann Hanson attributed the College’s lack of an ROTC to its discriminatory policy against gay and lesbian Americans serving in the armed forces.
Recently, discussion of the ROTC has been pushed back into the spotlight after the repeal of DADT in Dec. 2010. Since the repeal, several other peer colleges in NESCAC and the Ivy League have at least started to consider the reintroduction of ROTC programs on their campuses.
However, while the resolution asked the administration to determine the feasibility of creating its own program, it was primarily concerned with easing the lives of college students who are members of the ROTC.
“I felt that the support system for current students who were involved in ROTC up at UVM is not the most substantial,” said Arnowitz. “So I thought that this would be a good way to show support for those student both in terms of demonstrating support and in trying to get results in terms of making their lives easier.”
Currently, College students interested in joining the ROTC must be part of the affiliate program with UVM. This poses some problems for participating students.
“Transportation is a large issue,” said Arnowitz. “Time commitment is another because those students don’t receive any credit at Middlebury.”
Tentative recommendations to resolve this problem included the possibility of a history or PE credit given to participating students to help them balance the time commitment necessary to complete the program.
Facilitating access to such programs can be important because of the benefits access to an ROTC program can afford participating students. In particular, the ROTC could be a valuable opportunity for economically disadvantaged students, by helping them to pay college tuition.
Debate surrounding the resolution centered on continued discriminatory practices in the armed forces. While most supported facilitating other students’ involvement in the ROTC, they rejected the idea of the administration considering the implementation of its own program because even though the repeal of DADT has allowed gays and lesbians to openly serve in the military, the legislation still does not prevent the military from barring transgender individuals from military service.
Under current regulations, transgendered individuals are considered medically unfit to serve. This, some senators argued, is in direct violation of the College’s non discrimination statement, which  “prohibits discrimination in employment” for reasons including gender identity and expression.
Opponents of the resolution particularly emphasized the inherent contradiction in tolerating consideration of the reinstatement of the ROTC on campus before the repeal of DADT due to discrimination associated with the legislation, but deciding to support it now even though the College’s non-discrimination policy continues to be violated.
Arnowtiz, who abstained during the resolution vote, acknowledged the controversy surrounding the issue.
“I personally was unaware of the nature of the relationship between the military and transgendered Americans,” said Arnowitz. “And after coming to see that, while I still believe the well-written, well-intended and deserved to pass, the reason I eventually abstained was because I was not opposed to having more dialogue and would favor more dialogue to create something that all sides were happy with.”
However, Arnowitz also emphasized that the resolution’s primary purpose was to help students participating in the ROTC program.
“At the same time I am glad that the bill passed,” said Arnowitz. “I think that in the end it is going to make the lives of many of our students easier, without intending in any way to step on the toes of very important identities of many students on this campus.”
During its meeting, the SGA also passed several other resolutions including permanent funding for an additional 30 New York Times papers on Monday through Friday, and the institution of Midnight Breakfast as a permanently funded SGA program.  Beginning in the spring 2011, the SGA will completely fund the cost of two nights of midnight breakfast in both the fall and spring semesters.