Shrewd RUDE Amendments

Here's a copy of the amendments I'm proposing at the next Senate meeting: give me your thoughts!

(Note: Changes and additions to the currently recognized RUDE Act pending amendment vote in the Senate are highlighted)

The Restricting Unjust and Discriminatory Employers Act of 2005

Sponsor: Sen. Tom Powers (2006)

Cosponsors: 0

Status: (10/16/2005) Received Favorably by the Senate from the Policy Committee. Currently awaiting further Senate action and amendments.

Text:
WHEREAS the United States Armed Forces is in the regular practice of stationing personnel at tables in the foyer of the Reid Campus Center during periods of high-traffic through that chamber for the purpose of recruiting Whitman College students to serve in the nation's Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Reserves or other such departments of the Armed Forces;

WHEREAS these same recruiters have also held tables at job fairs of the College for the purpose of actively pursuing the attainment of Whitman College students into the ranks of the Armed Forces;

WHEREAS the United States Military and associated agencies not limited to but including the Department of Defense maintain a policy expressly forbidding the service of openly gay, transgendered, lesbian or bisexual individuals in such departments (“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”);

WHEREAS the federal law commonly known as the Solomon Amendment permits the Secretary of Defense of the United States to deny federal funds, excluding financial aid, to academic institutions that bar or provide unequal access to military recruiters on their campuses;

WHEREAS the Solomon Amendment was overturned by a 2-1 decision of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals of the United States and the case, FAIR vs. Rumsfeld, was granted certiorari for argument before the United States Supreme Court beginning December 6, 2005;

WHEREAS Article VII of the Constitution of the Associated Students of Whitman College states that no discriminatory organization shall receive support from ASWC Congress and that the rights enjoyed by ASWC members must not be denied on the basis of, not limited to, but including sexual orientation;

THEREFORE, be it Resolved by the Senate of the Associated Students of Whitman College that:

(1) All personnel representing a department of the United States Armed Forces or the Department of Defense are prohibited from engaging in recruitment activity for related agencies and departments, for either active or non-active duty, on the campus of Whitman College;

(2) All promotional material consisting in or related to recruitment for departments of the Armed Forces made available for dissemination to students by such personnel must be located within the Career Center of the Reid Campus Center and not in any other area of the Whitman College campus;

(3) Individuals meeting with military recruiters are requested to conduct their appointments in the Career Center, and such recruiters shall not be restricted entry to the campus provided that they do not engage in the activities proscribed in sections (1) and (2);

(4) The prohibitions enumerated in sections (1) and (2) of this Resolution are to take effect contingent upon:

a) the reversal or repeal of the elements of the Solomon Amendment that use federal monies as a law enforcement measure to ensure military recruiter access to students and

(b) the continued maintenance and enforcement of the policy of the United States Military to discriminate against and exclude those of a non-heterosexual orientation for service within its ranks (“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”);

(5) The Associated Students of Whitman College formally opposes and denounces both the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy and the Solomon Amendment, which unfairly compels Whitman College to be complicit in this practice of discrimination and exclusion;

(6) The Associated Students of Whitman College formally and deeply regrets that it must violate its nondiscrimination policy in Section VII of the Constitution as a result of avoiding the dire consequences of noncompliance with the Solomon Amendment;

(7) The Senate of the Associated Students of Whitman College recommends the formation of a Task Force charged with the duty of publicizing this formal opposition to both federal policies and to conduct related ameliorative programming highlighting the implications of the policies;

(8) Chapter V, Article IV, Section 1, Subsection e of the Whitman College Faculty Code should be amended to include the distinctions listed in Section VII of the ASWC Constitution among the currently-included "race, national origins, or religion".

(9) This resolution shall be distributed to the following persons and offices concurrent with the procedure outlined in Article II, Section One, Subsection F of the By-Laws of the Associated Students of Whitman College:

Whitman College
George S. Bridges, President
Charles Cleveland, Dean of Students
Barbara Maxwell, Associate Dean of Students
Patrick Keef, Dean of Faculty
Tony Cabasco, Dean of Admission and Financial Aid
Peter Harvey, Chief Financial Officer
Varga Fox, Director of Financial Aid
Susan Buchanan, Career Center Director
Polly Lorenz, Director of Conferences and Events
George Theo, Director of Student Activities and Patron Saint of ASWC
Patrick Spencer, Chair of the Academic Council
Ron Urban, Registrar
Tom Davis, Chair of the Faculty Policy Committee
Members of the Student Life Committee
Board of Trustees
Board of Overseers

United States of America
Cathy McMorris, Representative of Washington’s Fifth District
Patty Murray, Senator of Washington
Maria Cantwell, Senator of Washington
Supreme Court of the United States