Editor, Daily Nexus,

From the developments in recent weeks, it has appeared to me that the people who usually claim they encourage a diversity of ideas and fight to protect the freedom to express their beliefs have been the first ones to shoot down ideas that lie contradictory to their own agenda. The most recent example of this that I want to address is the protesting that occurred at the Third Annual Diversity Career Fair. While I firmly believe in the right to protest and encourage it as a means to providing usually much needed alternative view points, what I do not believe in is hypocrisy.

The goal of this fair was to provide information about various job opportunities available after college, but instead of if just being a forum to gather information, this became – like so many others – a place for some to setup their soapboxes and preach their rhetoric against the military. Protester Tanya Paperny was quoted as saying that the goal of their protest was to educate people on their options outside of the military, to which I ask, was that not the point of the fair in the first place?

While I agree with her that there are many options out there for minority and low-income students besides the military, I believe these options have already been realized by many students who recognized their potential and made the decision to come to this institution. What I also believe is that some students, regardless of race or financial status, will choose the military, not out of necessity, but by choice. Every day, brave men and women make an active decision to enlist and serve our country so that others can remain here and have the freedom to pursue their futures as they wish. So the next time you decide to go out there and protest the military just remember who protects your right to do so.