Cal State Fullerton’s Senate Backs ROTC Despite Gay Ban

The Academic Senate at Cal State Fullerton voted Thursday to recommend that its ROTC program continue, even though gays are prohibited from joining it.

The Academic Senate of the California State University system is expected to vote today on whether to bar the Army’s Reserve Officer Training Corps at all 20 campuses because the Defense Department prohibits gays from being in the armed forces.

The vote by Fullerton’s senate is advisory only.

“We are very happy with the school’s senate vote to keep ROTC on the campus,” said Joe Ahn, student body president. “We of course don’t like the military’s discrimination toward homosexuals, but cutting out a program that does provide education for students doesn’t make sense.

“And with the current recession and budget cuts the school is going through, we can’t afford to lose additional funds that help people get an education,” he said.

If the statewide senate votes today to bar ROTC, students now enrolled would be allowed to complete the program.

Dr. Earl James Weaver, professor of American studies at Cal State Fullerton, said: “We need to remember that there was a time when the military wouldn’t allow blacks in. We’re going to look back on the military and its views toward homosexuality much in the same way we look at the way they felt about minorities.”

Many members of the Fullerton senate--which consists of teachers, administrators and two student representatives--said that they agreed that the military should drop its prohibition of gays but that the timing of the vote was bad.

“With a war going on in the Gulf, cutting ROTC programs really isn’t something we should be considering right now,” said Bill Puzo, senate member. “I think we should encourage the military to change the policy, but not at the expense of the program.”

For senior Allan Dollison, 24, who is enrolled in ROTC, the senate’s vote is only temporary relief: “I get about $100 a month from the military each month, and I buy groceries with it. I need the ROTC to help me get my education, and I am just hoping the state (Academic) Senate will feel the same way.”