Today, the 20th of January 2009, the University of New Brunswick (UNB) planned to host an Employer Information Session for Lockheed Martin Canada.

Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest producer, developer, and exporter of arms and munitions, has consistently proven its willingness to provide weapons to authoritarian and imperialist state parties worldwide. One of the wealthiest corporations on Earth, Lockheed Martin sells products whose sole function is to destroy human life and/or the infrastructure necessary to sustain it; some of these products are illegal under international law. Among other weapons, Lockheed Martin produces depleted uranium bunker-busters, Trident nuclear missiles, cluster bombs, and the F-16s that Israel recently used to bombard Gaza.

Upon learning of the event, Strax started to mobilize. We sent letters voicing our concern to the university president and Employment Services. In addition to the letter, Strax drafted a resolution condemning Lockheed Martin’s recruitment efforts. This resolution was endorsed by the Fredericton Islamic Association, Fredericton Palestine Solidarity, Canadian Unitarians for Social Justice - Saint John, the Fredericton Peace Coalition, as well over fifty individuals including Rev. George Feenstra, a number of UNB and STU faculty members, and Dr. Gloria Paul, the winner of 2007’s YMCA Peace Medallion.

Strax feels it would have been unconscionable not to respond to an event of this nature, and we are not alone in our opposition to the militarization of campus space. Other individuals and organizations were also compelled to respond to Lockheed Martin’s recruitment efforts.

Members of Strax and other opponents of Lockheed arrived at room C127 of Gillin Hall at 5:00 pm. To our surprise, we found an empty classroom. We soon learned that the event had been cancelled, and that an email had been sent to UNB Computer Science students. The cancellation of this event fulfilled one our demands: “to immediately cancel the upcoming Lockheed Martin recruitment fair”, as was delivered to UNB President John McLaughlin and Student Employment Services. Strax’s second demand stands: that UNB “provide an open forum designed to address the important question of who should be permitted to recruit on campus”.

We will continue to press for an open and democratic forum to provide both faculty and students a say in which organizations have the right to recruit in their academic spaces, but, without compromise, Strax will oppose all future efforts to militarize the UNB/STU campus. It is Strax’s position that any corporation which profits from human misery should be banned from recruiting on campus immediately and permanently.

By hosting this career fair, UNB would have promoted the work of Lockheed Martin and not only become complicit in its actions, but actively facilitated Lockheed’s production of immoral, and sometimes illegal, products.

Strax claims victory in this battle, but our struggle against the militarization of campus is far from over.

We intend to win.

For more information, please contact Strax at: str...@riseup.net