San Francisco State University Students Confront Military Recruiters on Campus

March 9 2005
San Francisco State University
1600 Holloway Ave, San Franicsco
Malcolm X Plaza
11 AM

San Francisco, CA: After voting to bring the troops home with Prop N last November, San Francisco is reeling with activity aimed at keeping military recruiters out of area schools.

On February 26th, a new group called "College not Combat" formed in San Francisco, drawing in 100 people to its first meeting, including several Vietnam and Iraq war vets, parents, teachers, and 35 students rom 7 colleges and at least 2 high schools. A counter-recruitment meeting in Oakland drew 100 people the following day. There are plans to picket the main recruiting center in San Francisco on March 15th, as well as a special "get the military out of our schools" contingent within the March 19th anti-occupation march. Last week, activists at UC Berkeley picketed Marine recruiters on their campus.

On Wednesday, March 9th, the Army Corps of Engineers and the US Navy are coming to San Francisco State University in the hopes of recruiting students to become cannon fodder for the US occupation effort. Student activists with the Campus Anti-War Network (CAN) have a different plan: they have organized a protest to block the recruiters and kick them off their campus.

Hundreds of students at low-income colleges and high schools nationwide have participated in protests like this one, and have successfully forced military recruiters to pack up and leave their campuses.

"Now it's our turn here at SF State to tell the anti-gay military that they're not welcome on our campus," says Katrina Yeaw, organizer for CAN's chapter at SF State, Students Against War. "Students come here for an education, not to be pressured into signing on the dotted line after being told a bunch of lies by some military recruiter".