The Dartmouth Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Students Organization issued a statement yesterday calling for the immediate termination of the Reserve Officer Training Corps at the College.
The statement alleges that ROTC, which adheres to the military's general policy prohibiting open homosexuality, violates the College's Equal Opportunity Policy.
"Homosexuals serving in the military are forbidden to reveal their sexual orientation, and may be discharged for violating this rule," the members of DaGlo wrote in the statement. "Under this policy, ROTC plainly denies entry to openly gay students."
DaGlo is the third campus group to officially issue a statement to the Board of Trustees, which will decide the fate of Dartmouth's ROTC program at its meeting during the weekend of April 14.
The Coalition for Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Concerns and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences have both demanded the termination of the College's ROTC program. Conversely, the Student Assembly is working on a report urging ROTC's continuation.
But DaGlo's statement is the only one that discusses the effect of the ROTC program on the lives of gay students.
"By insisting that homosexuals who wish to participate in ROTC remain 'closeted,' the program and, by extension, the College do great psychological violence to gay, lesbian and bisexual students," the letter stated.
Military policy allows homosexuals to serve in the military, but requires them to keep their sexual orientations and practices quiet - or face possible dismissal.
"I personally feel the present policy is worse in some ways because it codifies a lot," DaGlo Co-chair S.T. Shimi '94 said.
"If the Board of Trustees does not take ROTC [out of the College], it tells us that we are expendible and we are second rate; it tells us that we are worthless and our esteem is worth stepping on," she said.
Trevor Burgess '94, the other co-chair of DaGlo, also said he is concerned about the message the administration is sending to students.
"The College has failed to educate students that discrimination is something that is not okay," Burgess said
The report cited the recent Assembly motion supporting ROTC as an example of the message students are receiving.
The statement accuses the College of sending "an insulting message to gay, lesbian and bisexual students" by accepting the discriminatory program.
"In the eyes of homosexual students, by continuing to allow ROTC to operate at Dartmouth, the College implies not only that discrimination based upon sexual orientation is an acceptable practice in our society, but also that gays, lesbians and bisexuals are morally inferior to heterosexuals," the letter stated.
