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FORDHAM - ROTC personnel allegedly directed racist, anti-Semitic and anti-civilian remarks against non-military workers last academic year, according to student workers in the ROTC office. The instances, which were not brought to the attention of Fordham's administrators, prompt questions about the ROTC's place in the structure of the University.
The ROTC program, a part of the College of Business Administration, is based out of the office at the Rose Hill Campus.
Abdus Salam, FCRH '08, worked in the ROTC office during his freshman year in the fall of 2004 for his work-study placement, and continued to do so into his sophomore year. During that time, he felt he was singled out because of his racial background.
"I usually don't pull out the race card until or unless I am forced to," Salam said when describing how a Major in the United States Army treated him. "His suspicion and the way he approached me, to ask me if I [was] working or not, constantly gave me the impression that he has some problem with who I am," Salam said.
Salam said he was not offered a student worker position in the ROTC office for the upcoming academic year. However, another student worker at the time, who, according to Salam, rarely came to work and did not complete tasks assigned to him, was asked to return as a student worker. This student was enrolled in the ROTC program, said Salam, whereas Salam himself was not.
Another student worker, offered anonymity by The Observer because speaking on the record could jeopardize his job in the ROTC office, said that he was made to feel uncomfortable while working because of biased comments made by a Sergeant.
"When I first started working in the office, a certain Sergeant began referring to me as the 'Hebrew slave,'" said the source. "Both when I was in the office and when I wasn't even around, he was heard to ask the supply clerk if I was 'being worked like a Hebrew slave.'"
The student worker said that he is not of Jewish descent, but he still does not think this was an appropriate statement to make in public, as the Sergeant is a representative of the United States Army. This student is also not a member of ROTC.
Melba Diaz, administrative assistant for the Army ROTC/department of military science, witnessed the comments from where her desk is situated in the office. "I find these comments offensive, especially in a place of higher education and when you are a guest in this university," she said.
For the sake of his job, the anonymous source did not address the comments with Student Employment or administrators. "I rarely interact with uniformed personnel, so the job is much more tolerable than it potentially could be," the source said.
The instances of comments made in the ROTC office were never brought to the attention of CBA, said Donna Rapaccioli, dean of CBA, who first learned about the charges when questioned by The Observer. According to Rapaccioli, when she consulted with ROTC personnel, they said they were unaware of the issue.
Rapaccioli said that ROTC faculty members in the department of military science are considered members of the Fordham faculty. Therefore, they are subject to the same code of ethics as any other faculty member.
In light of the recent Supreme Court ruling on the Rumsfeld v. FAIR case, colleges and universities are required to allow military recruiting on campus in order to receive federal funding. However, according to Rapaccioli, who consulted with members of the ROTC on campus, ROTC is considered military training as opposed to recruiting, so Fordham's federal funding would not be at stake if there was not an ROTC office on campus.
She added, "If inappropriate comments were made by a service member to a University employee, then, in accordance with Fordham's policies, that individual would grieve the incident through Fordham and the military service member [or] faculty member would be dealt with accordingly."
Regarding the military's place on campus, the Rev. Robert R. Grimes, S.J., dean of FCLC, reiterated Rapaccioli's statement that ROTC faculty members are considered part of the Fordham faculty and added that he believes the program is necessary in order to have educated people, coming out of colleges and universities, serving in the armed forces.
Grimes said, "You're talking about two very different cultures when you talk about the military culture and the University culture, so it wouldn't surprise me that at times there are conflicts, or [perhaps] misunderstandings might be the better word."
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