Student Government Association Presentation April 4, 2006

1. A Resolution Affirming the Principles of Mount Holyoke College in Light of Military Recruitment on Our Campus Student Government Association Presentation April 4, 2006

2. Background Information: • “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Don’t Pursue, Don’t Harass” is the term for the current policy regarding homosexuals in the armed forces • It was a compromise measure proposed by President Bill Clinton in 1993 • Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was crafted by Colin Powell and has been maintained by President George W. Bush

3. About the Law: • A service member may be investigated and discharged if they: 1) make a statement that they are lesbian, gay or bisexual; or 2) engage in, attempt to engage in, or solicit a homosexual act or acts; or 3) marry, or attempt to marry, someone of the same sex. • As long as homosexual members of the armed forces hide information which could disclose their orientation, their superiors will not investigate their sexuality. • It is the only law that penalizes homosexuals for coming out and the only law that allows a person to be fired for being gay.

4. Excerpts of 10 U.S.C. § 654 • “The term ‘homosexual’ means a person, regardless of sex, who engages in, attempts to engage in, has a propensity to engage in, or intends to engage in homosexual acts.” • “The term ‘homosexual act’ means any bodily contact, actively undertaken or passively permitted between members of the same sex for the purposes of satisfying sexual desires and any bodily contact which a reasonable person would understand to demonstrate a propensity or intent to engage in an act described [above].” • “The armed forces must maintain personnel policies that exclude persons whose presence in the armed forces would create an unacceptable risk to the armed forces’ high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability.” • “The presence in the armed forces of persons who demonstrate a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability.”

5. Proposed Resolution: • The Military’s policy is antithetical to the beliefs, values, and policies of Mount Holyoke College. • The current military recruitment on the Mount Holyoke College grounds hinders the preservation of a “safe space” which defends all persons regardless of race, ethnicity, country of origin, religion, gender, or sexual orientation. • We offer that the Student Government Association (SGA) of Mount Holyoke College uphold the equal treatment of all persons and condemn any form of discrimination against members of the Mount Holyoke College community. • We mean for the SGA to urge the Mount Holyoke College Administration to enact a policy requiring all recruiters to be aware of Mount Holyoke College’s anti-discriminatory policies by providing a statement informing them of the aforementioned policies and directing them to sign a receipt stating they have received the document.

6. Thank you for your time The End