In a heated open forum with Chancellor John Wiley Wednesday afternoon, students who demanded the removal of military recruitment on campus faced off with ROTC members and supporters.
Students who believe military recruiters have no right to be on campus voiced a variety of issues with ROTC.
\Military recruiters engage in predatory practices. They target low-income students; they target minorities,"" said UW-Madison sophomore Bill Anderson. ""It's a fallacy to think that the military's institution has an inherent right to be here.""
Anderson said he has no problem with students in the military, only with military recruitment practices.
Students are also upset with the ""don't ask, don't tell"" policy, which states that individuals in the military cannot be openly gay, on penalty of dishonorable discharge.
Wiley responded to this concern, stating the university has been involved in lobbying against the discriminatory policy in Washington, D.C., as recently as last week.
""If students want to go to the ROTC or the military recruiters,"" Wiley said, ""that's their right, just as it's your right to say they shouldn't do that.""
Tim Heller, a UW-Madison first-year medical student and a veteran, said the ROTC misled him.
""They said they would pay for 40 percent of my education. ... They paid for 20 percent, not 40,"" Heller said. ""If they lied to me ... I'm sure they lied to many others.""
On the other side of the argument, students involved in ROTC stood up to voice their support for recruitment on campus.
""One of our policies is we're not trying to rope in students -we're trying to be very honest with them. So the recruiting for ROTC is done by the students,"" said UW-Madison junior and ROTC cadet Brandon Sivret. ""We allow them to see what our program is like, we explain everything to them.""
UW-Madison junior and ROTC cadet Robert Thelen said if ROTC was kicked off campus, he would have to go to a different university to pursue his major.
""By saying that you want us off this campus ... you are going after the individual, the individual right to pursue education,"" Thelen said in a comment directed at protestors.
""I joined up to serve my country ... and make sure our people come home safe,"" Sivret said. ""We have a lot of freshmen that are coming in that are just trying to serve their country that are feeling intimidated by a lot of these statements, a lot of these protests.\
