A new UNM program is hosting a national security event on campus today to discuss “challenges and opportunities” in the field of national security.
The National Security Colloquium takes place in the Southwest Film Center in the lower SUB today. Frank Gilfeather, director of UNM’s National Securities Studies Program, said students shouldn’t approach the colloquium like they might other career fairs.
“This is not a job fair. This is an opportunity to learn about national security careers and our program at UNM,” he said. “They will meet national security specialists both from the state and federal level and also get an opportunity to talk about potential careers.”
The NSSP is a new UNM program designed to recruit students into national security positions.
Bob Anderson, spokesman for Stop the War Machine, said the National Security Agency and CIA will be at the event to recruit students as spies.
“They’re trying to recruit students on campuses for surveillance work abroad and even domestically,” he said. “They’ll be spying on college campuses.”
The activities supported by the U.S.’s national security apparatus are frequently immoral, said Sally-Alice Thompson, a representative of Veterans for Peace.
“I think it’s a lowering of the ethics and morality of this country to have people that are spying on each other,” she said. “We condemned the Nazis and the Communists for doing these same things. That’s their business, and it’s very unethical. It’s not what we’re supposed to be doing.”
Intelligence agencies provide crucial assistance in maintaining America’s safety, Gilfeather said, and they need students from all disciplines.
“We need people in these fields who are experts in all these different areas to help support our country and keep us safe and secure both internally and externally,” he said. “The career opportunities in national security intelligence are very broad with an incredible variety of things to do, just a tremendous amount of opportunities.”
Students may be unaware of the availability of national security jobs, said Matthew Baca, program manager of UNM’s NSSP.
“Students may not be aware that the national security community is spread out between several agencies and they are always recruiting for prospective employees to enter into the agencies,” he said. “There is a big job market for them, and we want to make sure UNM students are aware of this possibility as they look around for a career after the University.”
The event represents an opportunity to expand military activities on college campuses and recruit people to spy on American citizens, much like national security agencies did in the 1960s, Anderson said.
“This is a part of the militarization of society and the schools. It’s set up to undermine civil government and the democratic process, having spies running around spying on each other,” he said. “In the ’60s, they were trying to see who the leaders were of the protest movements, like the professors, and some people got fired. A lot of people were scared.”
The colloquium will include discussion panels on national security issues, Gilfeather said.
“There is a very interesting panel in the morning that discusses the similarities between the culture, language and traditions in the Middle East and northern New Mexico,” he said. “There is also a drug war panel because it is very important to New Mexico.”
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Former Congresswoman Heather Wilson will be the keynote speaker of the event, Gilfeather said.
“The reason that she is so important in this area is when she was in Congress she was chairwoman of the House subcommittee on intelligence, so she will be here to discuss the challenges,” he said.
Anderson said the NSSP is unlikely to represent the reality of national security work in the U.S.
“Like those 92 tapes of waterboarding and torture that went missing, they’re not going to talk about that kind of thing,” he said. “If these spy agencies and military recruiters are going to be on campus, they’ve got to be real upfront about what they’re doing.”
The colloquium is only an introductory method for students to be informed about the UNM program, Gilfeather said.
“We offer and are supporting other courses on the issues of national security, culture, language, critical thinking and other classes,” he said. “We are also sponsoring a number of students to do study abroad programs so that they can expand their cultural awareness and their language capabilities in preparation for potential careers in national security.”
One such program will send students to the Middle East this summer, Baca said.
“We will be doing a cultural immersion travel this summer,” he said. “Ten students from the University will be spending three weeks in Kazakhstan to learn about other countries and another way of life of people who are very far away from here.”
*National Security Colloquium: Opportunities and Challenges
Today
SUB Theater
8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.*
