N.C. State has maintained a strong military presence since its founding in 1887, offering all four Reserve Officer Training Corps programs to students to gain experience with the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines. However, the 1993 enactment of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, ROTC members at our University who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender are at risk, despite a stringent University policy on diversity. With this in mind, the chancellor should not allow the ROTC program to enforce this policy if the University community is to truly be diverse and welcoming.
In his diversity statement, the chancellor’s claim that “we welcome all people regardless of ethnicity, race, national origin, age, gender, orientation, socioeconomic background, religion or disability,” is noble but contradictory to the University’s “Equal Opportunity and Non-discrimination Policy Statement.” The first article of that policy states that “it is the policy of the State of North Carolina to provide equality of opportunity in education and employment for all students and employees” and that the University “does not practice or condone unlawful discrimination in any form against students, employees or applicants on the grounds of race, color, religion, creed, sex, national origin, age, disability or veteran status.”
The policy goes on to state the University only allows discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation when it overlaps with federal or state law, abandoning the GLBT community and the University’s principles when circumstances when it interferes “with the University’s relationships with outside organizations, including the federal government, the military, ROTC and private employers.” The University contradicts itself again in the very next article that states “discrimination based upon race, color, religion, creed, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or sexual orientation is in violation of federal and state law and North Carolina State University policy, and will not be tolerated.” The chancellor needs to clarify where the University stands: with the GLBT community or with ROTC and “outside organizations.”
If Woodson claims to be “committed to the collective pursuit of excellent through acceptance of both individuals and ideas,” students in the ROTC programs who identify as gay should be protected and allowed to pursue their passions. Regardless of their orientation, students who choose to join the ROTC program in college must go through selective testing to get into the four programs and maintain a rigorous course load. These students show their passion in their determination to be a part of this program during their academic careers here — and no discriminatory policy, or federal or otherwise, should stop them.
To truly support a diverse campus community, the chancellor needs to state clearly for the University if he stands with students. That clarification means making hard choices about the future of ROTC on this campus. Until “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is repealed, he should consider separating the ROTC programs from the University. In his diversity statement, Woodson said we should “serve as pioneers.” To do this, the University needs to make a national statement that it will not tolerate discrimination of its students. “It is no longer enough to simply recognize these things,” the chancellor said about diversity. “We must now fully embrace them with open arms.” It is time for the new chancellor to put words into action, or risk showing that embrace as an empty gesture.
