The Daily Background

I got a response from my college’s registrar today. Just to get people up to speed real quick here: I was recently contacted by the US Marines who wanted to give me the “chance of a lifetime” if I enlisted in a program they have geared towards college students which would land me as an officer in the Corps quickly and painlessly, or something. I was curious as to how the Marines got my contact info here at college, since nobody other than my parents, my school and my bank knows my address.

I emailed the Marines recruiting office that contacted me, and asked how they had found me. They emailed me back and told me that my school registrar’s office had given them the information, and indicated that they were either unwilling or unable to remove my name from their database of college students. I’ve also talked with other students at my school who have been contacted by the Marines in a similar manner. I emailed my school’s registrar, and that’s where I left off last time.

Well, I heard back from my college’s registrar today. Here’s what I found out. The registrar told me about something called the Solomon Amendment, which was signed into law in 1996, and allows the Department of Defense to deny funding to colleges and universities which don’t provide them with the information they request about students. The registrar seems to have simplified this, saying that it was against the law to deny directory information to the DoD, whereas instead any school is allowed to- they simply risk being cut off from federal funding.

I have emailed the registrar back about this, asking for some clarification and whether or not the school is the recipient of federal funding, and if so what types and how much.

Here’s the type of information that the Marines apparently has about me, provided by my school. My name, my addresses (both home and here at school), my telephone numbers (both at home and presumably my cell phone), my age, my place of birth, the name of my high school, and even my major (do they really want a documentary film student to join the Marines?).

Earlier today, after a bit of asking around, I found out that one of my friends had even been called on their cell phone by a recruiter. Note that even telemarketers aren’t allowed to have cell phone numbers, as there is no public directory of them.

The registrar also told me in so many words that they are under no obligation to inform, or get consent from, students whose personal information they are giving to the Marines Corps or any other branch of the military. I’ve replied with a request for more information about this, and whether or not there is any way to opt out of the directory listings which they give to the Pentagon, as was sort of indicated to me by the Marines recruiter I contacted (he said “If you wish your name to be removed I recommend contacting the Registrar’s Office”).

Filed under: Z-TDB Blog