Professors Join Call for ROTC’s Eviction : Discrimination: The CSU Academic Senate has threatened to lobby for an end to campus military programs if the armed services continue to refuse to accept homosexuals.

The California State University Academic Senate unanimously passed a compromise resolution Friday calling on the Defense Department to end discrimination against homosexuals in the military by Jan. 1 or face efforts to abolish ROTC programs on the system’s campuses.

If the military does not reverse its policy barring open homosexuals from military service, the faculty members urged the 20 campuses they represent to consider phasing out Reserve Officer Training Corps programs by withdrawing faculty status for instructors, declining to offer academic credit, and refusing to list the programs in course catalogues and other campus publications.

Earlier versions of the statement had called for either waiting until January, 1992, to ask for sanctions against ROTC or taking immediate action. Members of the Academic Senate said they wanted to let individual campuses discuss the issue first.

To become official university policy, the senate’s resolution must be approved by the CSU Board of Trustees.

The statewide Academic Senate’s vote followed weeks of turmoil at Cal State Northridge, where students and faculty had voted to abolish the training programs, only to have their recommendations overturned April 16 by CSUN President James W. Cleary. Cleary said he based his decision on legal advice that state agencies cannot overrule federal law.

CSUN students who attended the senate meeting Friday in Long Beach called the resolution inadequate, saying the military’s violation of university anti-discrimination policies calls for immediate action.

“To us, it does not make sense that a program can exist where there is discrimination,” said Brent Larson, a CSUN junior and a leader of the newly formed Students and Faculty United for Equal Rights.

“It’s not direct enough, not forceful enough,” said senior Desiree Dreeuws, who said she was discharged from the Army last year after telling her superior that she is a lesbian. Dreeuws said students, who have organized several campus protests, would continue to urge Cleary to reverse his stance.

Currently, 42 CSUN students participate in Air Force, Army and Navy ROTC programs, some of them cross-enrolling at UCLA for the required military training classes. Although those who are openly homosexual may enroll in ROTC classes, they may not receive military scholarships or accept officer commissions after graduation.

Academic Senate members said that insisting ROTC be abolished immediately would not give the military time to respond and would stifle campus discussion. After the resignation of CSU Chancellor W. Ann Reynolds on April 20, members of the Academic Senate and the CSU Board of Trustees indicated that they wanted the universities to become more independent.

“I understand your impatience. I understand the discrimination you’ve faced, professionally and personally,” said Lester Pincu, a senator from Fresno State University. “But the point of this resolution and the point of this body is to make changes, not just make a statement.”

Similar anti-ROTC campaigns are being waged at other campuses across the nation for the first time since the Vietnam War. In the state university system, the faculty of Chico State University voted Thursday to ban ROTC, and the faculty at Bakersfield State University is scheduled to vote on a similar proposal next week.

In explaining their support for the resolution, several CSU senators spoke of the discrimination they have faced.

“I have spent nearly my entire life being told, ‘Someday . . . maybe,’ ” said Anita Silvers, a senator from San Francisco State who is wheelchair-bound.

“Less than 42 years ago, my brothers were in segregated troops,” said LeVell Holmes, a black senator from Sonoma State.

The Pentagon argues that accepting open homosexuals would adversely affect “the ability of the military services to maintain discipline, good order and morale” and to “foster mutual trust and confidence among service members.”