The Coalition for Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Concerns issued a statement on Mar. 28 demanding that the College eliminate its Reserve Officer Training Corps program.
The coalition alleges that ROTC discriminates against homosexuals and therefore violates the College's Principal of Equal Opportunity.
The statement will be submitted to the Board of Trustees for consideration at its meeting on the weekend of April 15.
The coalition is a an organization of Dartmouth faculty and staff, which addresses the concerns of gay, lesbian and bisexual employees at the College.
The coalition's statement comes nearly one month after the faculty of arts and sciences voted overwhelmingly to urge the Trustees to discontinue ROTC for similar reasons.
In 1991, the Trustees said they would discontinue the ROTC program if the U.S. Defense Department did not change its policy prohibiting homosexuals from serving in the military.
Encouraged by President Bill Clinton's promise to allow homosexuals in the military, the Board last year decided to extend the two year deadline until this April.
But the coalition and the faculty believe the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which allows homosexuals to serve in the military as long as they keep their sexual orientation and practices quiet, does not go far enough.
"Now almost a year later and after extensive public debate, it is clear that the military's policy, although changed, remains discriminatory," members of the coalition wrote in the statement.
The College's equal opportunity policy states, "Dartmouth does not discriminate in the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, or status as a disabled or Vietnam era veteran in its programs, organizations and conditions of employment or admission."
The coalition's statement charges that the new policy prohibits homosexual conduct and prevents students from exploring their sexuality. Engaging in any behavior that could be deemed homosexual is grounds for dismissal from ROTC.
"For many Dartmouth students, college is the time when they begin to come to terms with issues of sexuality ... ROTC in effect denies to its participants the chance to discover who they are," coalition members wrote.
The coalition's statement describes the Principle of Equal Opportunity as a "cornerstone of our community" and noted that it is printed on the first page of the student handbook received by every student.
"Yet the Board, first by returning ROTC to Dartmouth in the mid-80s and then by delaying its discontinuation of this discriminatory program, has signaled to Dartmouth students that its Principle of Equal Opportunity is expendable," the members wrote.
The statement cites a Student Assembly resolution passed last term, which urges the Trustees to support ROTC, as an example of students' indeference to the Principle of Equal Opportunity.
"The members of Student Assembly, that is, have come to believe that discrimination against some among their peers should be allowed to continue," the members of the coalition wrote in the statement. "Surely this is not a lesson Dartmouth wants or can afford to teach."
The statement also criticizes the program as inhibiting students' rights to free speech.
"The College as a whole and [College] President [James] Freedman in particular have spoken out strongly in defense of our students' right to free speech," the statement continues. "This staunch commitment requires that we not continue to condone a program that demands that some of its enrollees remain silent about a crucial aspect of their lives."
