| Topic Name: |
Govt. at NYU |
| Message Name: |
NYU Protests |
| Date Posted: |
11/20/2000 |
| In Reply To: |
I think that JAG should sign a pledge of non-discrimination, and JAG is silly and dinosaur-ish (big surprise) not to do so. But it's really a simple matter--if it's illegal, take 'em to court, if it's legal, take it to the democratic process by approaching folks who have been elected. Protest has a place, but is this really a constituent group that needs to resort to protests to be heard? Typically, one envisions protest movements as representing the voice of the disconnected and disenfranchsed. I don't really picture the NYU students and faculties as being either disconnected or disenfranchised. In this age of the internet, NYU students could locate and mobilize like-minded students all over the place, and try to put coalitions together to lobby for change. 60s style protesting sure sounds like an effort to get the revolution televised, and I have it on good authority that the revolution will not be televised. I may be reading too much into all this (not being at NYU),but I like to see these things handled in court and in legislatures rather than in protests.
I'm all for everyone opposing JAG's policy,
but things like signing up for interviews just to heckle the interviewers (or, in more politically correct terms: to "engage the interviewers in a dialogue about the policy") seem a bit misplaced to me, if in fact they happened. I appreciate the earnestness the protests represent--the policy should be changed--but method does get to be the issue. Granted, I may be reading too much into the previous poster's "protesting like crazy", but if there's anyone who can work the system rather than merely do protesting, it's NYU law. |
| Message: |
As an NYU 2L, I can give you a little more scoop.
FYI, JAG can't sign a pledge of non-discrimination because it is must follow the military's "Don't Ask Don't Tell Don't Pursue Don't Harass" policy, which allows only closeted gays and lesbians to serve in the military. Thus, JAG openly discriminates against "out" lesbians and gay men, and MUST do so pursuant to Congressional and Department of Defense policy.
With regard to your comments about the "enfranchised" status of NYU students, I think that you overlook a major problem. The protesters are not just NYU students, they are LGBT students (and their supporters) and as such are absolutely members of a historically oppressed and disenfranchised group. Furthermore, protest is often the first stage of the democratic process; the protests at NYU were designed as much to raise consciousness about the military recruiting issue within the student body as they were to demonstrate to the administration the protesters' dissatisfaction with the situation. But on the whole, I think you are absolutely right. NYU as an institution and its students as individuals are in a fantastic position to challenge this policy, and failure to do so would be just plain irresponsible.
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