The Student Association is blackmailing student organizations, according to the president of the Philosophy Forum.

Forum President Domenico Carli said the SA’s revocation of recognition of Philosophy Forum for banning homosexuals is an attempt to “blackmail” other organizations into not taking a stand on the issue.

“Even though the SA members support us on this issue, they haven’t got the guts to take a stance. They could follow suit, but instead they’re allowing the hypocrisy to continue,” Carli said.

Student Association President Huda Scheidelman said she is supportive of the Philosophy Forum and what the SA did was hypocritical.

“What the SA did was a big contradiction and what the University Council did is a big contradiction, but I can’t speak for other senators,” Scheidelman said.

The Forum banned homosexuals on March 27 to protest the inconsistency of the NIU administration which allows the Reserve Officer Training Corps to prohibit homosexuals from joining.

The ROTC policy is a direct violation of the NIU constitution, he said.

He said the SA is hanging the threat of revocation over other organizations who might want to participate in a movement to end discrimination at NIU.

Gay/Lesbian Union President Theresa Brown said they had been considering banning heterosexuals but they refrained because they feared the SA would stop supplying the GLU with funding.

She said several SA senators had told her that the SA would be forced to revoke funding for the GLU if they banned heterosexuals.

“I support the movement but I don’t want to lose anything from the SA,” Brown said.

Carli said he expected the SA to fail to support the Philosophy Forum because “I don’t think they really care.”