Protest proposal for Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) at UMBC

Friends,

The Pentagon plans to invade the University of Maryland Baltimore County . One member of the faculty urges attendance at the town hall meetings, as well as emails to those in power at UMBC. A university has a role to play in preparing its students to play in role in building a better society. It should not prepare gullible students to become members of an imperial army. I find the timing of this proposal very interesting. The military wants to bring ROTC to UMBC at a time when the military is bogged down in Afghanistan and Iraq and considering an attack on Iran .

Kagiso,

Max

Dear Friends

UMBC faculty members have recently received the memo [see below] in which a proposal for establishing a Department of Military Science at UMBC is outlined. I do not know how much you know about this proposal (it's news to me), and so I wanted to share the information with you. Please note the discussion sessions proposed for NEXT TUESDAY and WEDNESDAY, MAY 13 & 14. I urge you to make your thoughts known to Professor T. Worchesky at worchesk@umbc.edu who is the president of the Faculty Senate, President Freeman Hrabowski at hrabowski@umbc.edu and Provost Art Johnson at ajohnson@umbc.edu. Spread this news widely.

Jack Sinnigen

John H. Sinnigen
Prof. of Spanish and Intercultural Communication
Coordinator of Spanish
MLL
UMBC
Balto. , MD 21250
410 455 2149 phone
410 455 1025 fax

TO: The UMBC Community

FROM: Freeman Hrabowski & Art Johnson

RE: Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) Town Hall Meetings

DATE: May 8, 2008

As you may know, ROTC is a training and leadership-development program for university students who are considering military careers and wish to become commissioned officers. Currently, UMBC is a satellite site of the Johns Hopkins University Army ROTC program, which serves as the host site. This arrangement makes it necessary for UMBC ROTC cadets to travel to the Hopkins campus for training and coursework.

Two weeks ago, the United States Army informed us that UMBC has an opportunity to be considered to become a host site for Army ROTC. This coming week, we will convene two community meetings to discuss this opportunity.

If we become an independent ROTC site, our students could complete the program's requirements on the UMBC campus. Moreover, gaining host status would increase the number of scholarships available to our students. Under our current arrangement with the Hopkins ROTC program, UMBC students have very limited opportunities for financial support.

We have scheduled two meetings next week for the campus community to discuss this opportunity. Please join us either next Tuesday, May 13, at 1:00 p.m. in the University Center , Room 312, or Wednesday, May 14, at 12:00 noon in The Commons, Room 331.

We look forward to seeing you.