Recruiters Out of The Classroom (ROTC)

To whom it may concern:





Recently, a student member of UT Anti-war expressed her extreme concern after experiencing a military recruitment effort occur within the confines of a classroom on the universitys campus. The recruiter co-opted approximately the first twenty minutes of a one hundred minute class, while the student accompanying her provided supplementary, encouraging testimonial. The student presenting his view of the ROTC program has yet to experience actual combat or fulfill his major obligation to the military. Obviously, the recruiters objective was to persuade those in attendance, in a large introductory science lecture, of the benefits of signing up for the military. However, the information given, as is to be expected, was incredibly biased, absolutely ignoring any negative aspects possibly resulting from military involvement. Additionally predictable was that no time for counter-recruitment efforts was ever allotted within the classroom.





Considering the astronomical costs of post-secondary education and the stress placed on young men and women as they are nearly required to obtain a degree if they wish to be competitive in todays job market, students at the University of Toledo should not be pressured into military service by recruiters who invade the classroom, our campus, and high schools across the nation. Students should be able to consider equally their options for funding their current education and achieving their future goals. We do not see corporations, sponsors of scholarships, or volunteer organizations stealing the time we as students have paid for in order to be educated. University of Toledo Anti-War requests that students, faculty, and members of the administration please join us in voicing our opposition to the predatory practices of military recruiters within our classrooms and in educational settings throughout the United States.





-UT Anti-war, an organization that strives to raise awareness of the costs (human, monetary, social, etc.) of war and occupation