CIA Recruiters Face 'Death' Protest

Author: Nicha Rakpanichmanee

"If I want to overthrow democratically elected governments, is there a specific department for that?" Wells Lyons '04.5 asked on Monday night at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) information session, a regular recruitment event sponsored by the Career Services Office (CSO).

"I'll give you one more [question] before leaving," replied Regional Recruiter Bryan Peters.

Lyons had earlier raised his hand and asked which department he should join "to help torture citizens." Lyons said he "just cracked up" when Peters' answer was the CIA Operations Department.

Lyons walked out to put on a T-shirt labeled "human rights activist" in large print. With imitation blood splattered over his torso and arms, he joined nine other Middlebury College students who spread across the floor outside Bicentennial Hall 220 for nearly an hour. Their t-shirt labels included "freedom fighter (not a terrorist)," "environmental activist," "labor union organizer" and "student demonstrator." All 10 students appeared dead in small pools of red dye while some lay with duck-taped ankles and eyes wide open.

The two CIA recruiters saw the protesters on the ground as they were leaving the session. Peters and Sandra Graham continued on their way towards the building's exit, stepping over a few inert bodies on the way. When asked to describe their reaction to this student protest, the recruiters both said, "None."

Ben Brouwer '04 said he heard Peters remark "nice Kool-Aid" while crossing over Brouwer's "Chilean citizen" t-shirt. "I would like to have seen him stop and talk to us," Brouwer added, "but he obviously had a different agenda."

Ben Gore '04 also came to protest the CIA's recruitment at Middlebury, though he stood around the pretend corpses with Trevor Snapp '02, who handed out to every passer-by a four-page flyer with headings like "The CIA and Terrorism" and "What You Should Know About the CIA and Torture."

Gore explained that students came together spontaneously "to show that the CIA isn't particularly welcomed here at Middlebury, at least not by everyone." He called the CIA "a secret-police-type organization" that "undermines legitimate governments, shoots people and trains terrorists."

Many international terrorists today, said Gore, received training and funding support through the CIA's involvement in their respective countries.

In an interview yesterday, Peters stressed that, "Those are policy questions. I'm here to discuss only recruitment issues." He said that the information session was "not the venue [for] historical or covert news related" issues. Peters described his past three years of recruitment visits to the College as "favorable." He mentioned "a good number" of Middlebury students whose applications to the CIA are in the works. "I hope students are more passionate about their employment endeavors," Peters continued.

CSO Executive Director Jaye Roseborough elucidated that the CSO welcomed recruitment efforts of any employer who signs the College's non-discrimination statement. The statement proscribes discrimination "on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, marital status, place of birth, Vietnam veteran status or disability." Roseborough noted one exception to the agreement — the CIA's policy to employ only U.S. citizens whose spouses and potential spouses hold the same citizenship.

"It's federal law," said Peters in the interview. He explained during the information session that the policy is established for reasons of "loyalties." Peters told his audience that extensive background checks and verifications such a two- to three-hour polygraph tests were essential to the employment process to ensure that CIA employees are "loyal U.S. citizens with integrity" and "not counterintelligence hired by some opposition or some bin Laden organization."

At the information session, Michael Silberman '02.5 asked Peters and Graham whether "political consulting with other countries" is the CIA's "only operation." Peters replied, "Covert actions are very small and are authorized by the President. You're voting for him. So if you don't like what he does, then don't vote for him."

Later, standing by the crowd of Bicentennial Hall frequenters and the "dead" bodies, Silberman said he was initially "just curious" in the CIA but was "disappointed" that the recruitment session was "a really arrogant presentation."

"I haven't formed any opinions yet about the CIA despite rumors," continued Silberman. "But it was encouraging to see activism back at Middlebury. I think they raised awareness."

Andrea Templeton '04 was studying in Tormondsen Great Hall during the student protest and commented, "I had no idea it was going to happen, and it was startling to see, some of them being friends of mine" She said the protest "reinforces the idea that there are two sides to every issue," particularly regarding the "good and bad things that the CIA does."

Templeton called the imitation blood "a graphic piece of the protest" and said the silence of the protesters was "appropriate because they are protesting for a group of people who are silenced."

Tommy Wisdom '05 sat in a chair next to the crowd of protesters in Great Hall, where he was reading and listening to music for the entirety of the protest. "I think the protest was a really drastic way to get [one's] point across and definitely drew my attention," he said. "I figured it was some sort of protest against something, but I don't know what it was about. After what I've seen, it probably had something to do with human rights or people in poor countries not being treated fairly."

Assistant Professor of American Literature and Civilization Karl Lindholm '66 arrived at Middlebury as assistant dean of students in 1976. During his term in office following the Vietnam era, "students didn't trust the government," he recalled.

"But then the world of young people became more conservative," continued Lindholm. "In the Reagan years in the '80s, especially, there was less collective objection to the CIA."

He said he remembered when CIA recruiters returned to college campuses such as Middlebury. "Those of us who had been here earlier, when we saw a sign that said 'Welcome CIA,' we were amused because it was so different in the '70s."

"There's always a sense that the CIA might be up to some dirty trick somewhere," said James Jermain Professor of Political Economy Russel Leng.

He put those suspicions in two categories, one of "dirty covert activities against governments that the CIA considers too far on the left" and another of "support for oppressive regimes."

Leng noted, however, that covert activities are a "very, very small part" of the CIA's operation because "not many people want to gather intelligence at the risk of [their] lives."

Leng pointed out one quandary of the protest — that liberal arts colleges are exactly the source for "good people" who will improve the CIA.

"We need intelligence as long as there are security threats to the U.S.," said Leng. "The way to reform is not to get rid of your intelligence service."