Berkeley Students Continue Effort to Boot Salvation Army Off Campus
by College Fix Staff on February 5, 2013
A recent student government recommendation to boot Salvation Army donation boxes off the UC Berkeley campus has been met with silence from administrators, so student politicians have decided to press the issue.
In particular, student Senator Nolan Pack said he plans to send a letter to the chancellor this week to “pressure the campus to urge it to break all ties with the charity,” The Daily Californian reported.
Pack is a “CalSERVE” senator. The group, according to its website, “is a community organization that runs candidates through the (Berkeley student government) as a means to create student empowerment, social consciousness, and social justice.”
The student senate passed its anti-Salvation Army bill in late November, claiming the nonprofit discriminates against homosexuals. The organization has denied the charges.
The bill was co-sponsored by more than 20 student representatives and groups, including the Cal Berkeley Democrats and Queer Alliance and Resource Center, according to The Daily Cal, which reported Tuesday that campus officials have been silent on the legislation since its passage.
Pack’s letter is expected to change that.
“Matthew Enger, the communications director for CalSERVE and author of the bill, said the university will respond because Pack is an elected representative of the student body,” The Daily Californian reports. “As an elected official, he has a platform to ask the administration about policies. Even if the administration isn’t willing to give a response now, I believe in time they will because there are too many people in the student body who care about this issue to just let it lie.”
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Very simple solution to this “problem” – don’t put any money in the collection boxes!
Salvation Army collection boxes are not for money. Unattended boxes are for people to donate clothing and small items. These items are typically sorted at city-based distribution centers and either directed toward families in need or sold (for very little) in Salvation Army thrift stores. Really, if the gay community at UC-Berkeley want to mad at someone, you would think they would direct their energy toward Muslim-Arabic organizations since homosexuals get imprisoned and executed in Islamic countries. However, that is not in fashion right now. What is in fashion is persecution of Christians.
The unfortuate (or fortunate) fact is that no matter what the University decides, students and graduates — as indiviudals — have a right to choose what they do with their property. So, banning a box from a campus is not going to prevent anyone from donating to a particular entity they deem appropriate to receive those goods/funds.
Furthermore, if the University decides to ban the donation boxes on grounds that The Salvation Army is a religous organization, then it must be forced to ban any/all religious organizations on campus, including any student religious groups. AND, if the issue is perceived discrimination or bias against the LGBT population, then I would assume the university would be forced to ban any conservative student groups or those whose cultural foundations are not in-line with those of Western Culture. In that case, UC Berkeley is no longer the free-thinking, all-accpeting university it once was.