PROTEST: BLU wants imperialism gone

“U.S. imperialists, numberone terrorists!”

“U.S. Marines: you can’t hide, you’re supporting genocide!”

“Ho, Ho Chi Minh, U.S.A. will never win!” Ho Chi Minh was a former President of North Vietnam and the founder of the Indochina Communist Party in 1930.

However, the BLU did not limit their jeering to the United States and the Marines. Instead, they booed any students who approached the Marine recruiters, calling them “losers” and crying out “shame.” A protester called the desire to serve the country “extremely cringe” and even asked how a student would want to kill people — suggesting that they could do so “from far away, [they] could starve people, [they] could bulldoze their homes” because the Marines “offer a lot of options.”

Since they were in uniform, the Marine recruiters said they were unable to comment on the BLU’s political claims about campus recruitment exacerbating U.S. imperialism. However, they were able to clarify why the military recruits on college campuses and their goals as recruiters. The requirement to become a Marine officer is a 4-year degree from a university along with necessary training, making undergraduate students the best audience and on-campus recruitment displays one of the most effective means to find prospective recruits.

A Marine explained that the recruiters did not intend to “sell [the program] or trick students, [they were] just distributing information to those who did not know about it.” The officer also said that all recruits “can opt out of the training” if desired and that there is no service requirement for those who complete the summer program in the first place — becoming a Marine officer is an option for those who are interested.

In fact, an active service member and Public Policy graduate student at Brandeis — for active duty purposes, they did not want to provide their name — emphasized that paid training programs such as this one and ROTC aid “many people of lower socioeconomic status who would not have had these [academic] opportunities” without aid from