Two issues receiving a lot of attention lately are the ROTC’s anti-gay policy and the athletic board’s anti-gymnastics policy. It appears the result of these controversies will be that ROTC remains while men’s gymnastics is dropped. This is unfortunate, and the parallel aspects of both issues warrant a reverse outcome.

When policy decisions are made, it is helpful to know the interests that are behind them. In the case of the ROTC, it is pretty clear that interests that support the military favor the training of officer candidates at NIU. It is likely that funding by corporations that engage in defense contracting is contingent upon the continuation of the ROTC program. In addition, the scholarships offered to ROTC students help pay for the operation of the university.

With men’s gymnastics, the interests behind the termination are those who want to see NIU go “big time” in intercollegiate athletics. NIU is an attractive career builder for head coaches and athletic directors in their first Division I roles, and success here can lead to jobs at major institutions.

Given the interests behind the ROTC and athletic programs, the question arises as to whether or not the interests of the citizenry of Illinois and NIU are being served. Questions about discrimination aside, the ROTC program certainly appears to be a tremendous waste of resources. The money sunk into training people to become skilled killers could better be used to fund scholarships for needy students and those interested in such socially useful careers as environmental science and solar technology. This could be a way of paying out the “Peace Dividend” that is being talked about so much in the news media.

In athletics, a similar waste of resources is placed into the football program, a sport that brutalizes its participants and maims many of them for life. It also brutializes the fans. I went to a game last fall in which an opposing player was knocked out cold. Our fans, what few of them there were, cheered wildly for this “success.” I left, wondering what place this kind of spectacle plays in the development of an educated and responsible citizenry.

What I propose is that NIU drop both ROTC and football. Both programs feed on paranoia and the belief that success in life is gained by brute force. The world really cannot afford to waste resources on such a silly and destructive philosophy in this day and age. Neither can NIU afford to be a money sink for dubious vested interests. NIU has the opportunity to be a world leader in the redirection of resources in order to serve true human needs. All that is needed is some true leadership.

John Hamilton

Ex-NIU football player

Ex-ROTC cadet