NIU’s association with the Reserve Officer Training Corps, which bans homosexuals, will be debated at today’s Faculty Assembly meeting.

Assembly Chairman J. Carroll Moody said the ROTC policy, which follows Army policy, will be the major issue of the meeting. The assembly will meet at 3 p.m. in the Holmes Student Center’s Heritage Room.

Army policy states that homosexuals cannot serve active duty in the military. However, the NIU Constitution, revised in 1988, states the university does not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.

owever, ROTC was established at NIU in 1968, before the constitutional discrimination clause.

The assembly could decide to send the issue to a committee during its discussions today, or do nothing with the policy issue, Moody said.

Theresa Brown, president of NIU’s Gay-Lesbian Union, said the organization circulated a petition opposing ROTC policies at its last dance. The petition was signed by hundreds of people, and will be circulated again at the next GLU dance, Brown said.

“If they (ROTC) don’t want to change their policies, they shouldn’t be on campus,” Brown said.

Brown said she wants to get signatures from NIU administrators on the petition. She said she might bring the petition to today’s assembly meeting to get more signatures.

Government ROTC scholarships pay about $7,000, or 80 percent of college tuition each year.

Capt. Walker, NIU assistant professor of military science, previously said any student can take ROTC classes, but when commitment to military service is involved, homosexuals cannot join.