At the “Rally for Human Liberation,” (March 21) I saw a unity of purpose, but not means. Questions and insults were slung at speakers from both (all) sides and the topic strayed considerably from that of human liberation.

The only pushing that I saw was done by two university security personnel who could have avoided using undue force by waiting for the incoming UPs.

Like many Gay-Lesbian Union members who wanted the Board of Regents to take this issue seriously, including the GLU president, I had not chanted. Amidst the chaos at one end of the room and board members members waiting to get on with the scheduled agenda, I remained, standing alone, against the wall, holding a sign.

I wondered how long NIU could be bribed into producing commissioned officers—none of whom could be self-avowed gays, bi-sexuals, celibate gays, “converted” gays, or heterosexuals who had ever had same-sex desires (unless they lied).

I stood in that room shaking as a wave of rage, pain, frustration and tears swept over me and my false pride caused me to leave. Who wants to risk being shown on TV crying—isn’t it ugly?—as if dykes aren’t supposed to have feelings—as if it’s a secret that discrimination is painful—that it hurts when an institution that has sworn to uphold your rights fails to do so—that it hurts when the University Council is so enraged that they vote not to let this discrimination continue much more than 1,000 days.

I believe that it would be more than civil to give the U.S. Department of Defense and ROTC members one to one-and-a-half years notice that the ROTC program will no longer exist at NIU, unless by some miracle of God, the discriminatory policy is changed.

This would allow some ROTC members to attain their commission and others to locate a program elsewhere (neither of which are options available to self-avowed gays).

I implore faculty, minority members and human rights advocates to come forward and publicly support the removal of this blatant contradiction to NIU’s anti-discrimination policy!

Sonya Wiley

Graduate Assistant

Clinical Education