In an effort to urge the repeal of the United States' military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, several Brandeis student groups held phone banks last week to call veterans in favor of the repeal and to connect them to Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown.The phone bank, or student-created call center, was the third held since September. Brandeis Democrats, Triskelion and Democracy for America held the phone banks to encourage students and veterans to call U.S. senators like Brown to urge them to vote to repeal "don't ask, don't tell."

The policy, which was issued by former President Bill Clinton in 1993, mandates that military personnel not be questioned about their sexual orientation and that members of armed services will be discharged if they are found to be homosexual.

In an e-mail to the Justice, president of Brandeis Democrats Amber Kornreich '12 wrote that 398 calls were made to veterans on Wednesday night. The veterans, who were already confirmed to be supporters of repealing "don't ask, don't tell," were connected directly to Brown's office to request a repeal of the policy.

They used an online program provided by the Human Rights Campaign-the nation's largest grassroots lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer civil rights organization-which assisted with organizing the Brandeis phone banks. In addition, the organizations have also been receiving support from MassEquality, a Massachusetts grassroots organization for LGBTQ rights.

An earlier phone bank was held on Nov. 16 to generate support from students. In an interview with the Justice, Chase Hiller '12, a member of both the Brandeis Democrats and Triskelion, said that students were stopped and asked to call Brown's office from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Shapiro Campus Center. According to Kornreich, 225 calls were made that Monday.

Kornreich and Hiller both explained to the Justice that the on-campus effort to repeal "don't ask, don't tell" began this past September when the issue was receiving a high amount of national press coverage. Hiller organized a last-minute flash phone bank outside the Usdan student center, and, according to Kornreich, over 200 students were asked to make phone calls to their respective representatives urging them to pass the National Defense Authorization Act, which would have repealed "don't ask, don't tell."

"It was absolutely inspirational to see the overwhelming support for the repeal on campus," said Kornreich.

"We've had really positive support," said Hiller. "A lot of people have thanked us. It's been such a rewarding experience just to interact with people. ... A huge majority of people are really supportive of [repealing the policy]."

Despite support, according to a Sept. 21 New York Times article, a majority of senators ended up voting against debate of the bill that would have repealed "don't ask, don't tell."

Hiller stated that a pentagon study to be released Dec. 1 will detail the results of a survey taken by 40,000 servicemen and women. Leaked results of the survey indicate that a majority of members of the Army believe that repealing "don't ask, don't tell" would not negatively affect morale or cohesion among troops, according to Hiller. Hiller said that a vote on the policy would be more likely to occur once the survey, indicating support for the repeal, was released, as opposed to before the results are officially released.

According to a Nov. 18 CBS News article, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced that a vote to repeal "don't ask, don't tell" would be held in the near future.

Hiller and Kornreich stated that they would be holding more phone banks to continue pushing senators to repeal the policy.

In addition, Hiller expressed that he would like to involve more groups on campus in their efforts.

"We would love to have the Brandeis Republicans involved. We would love to have the Brandeis Tea Party Chapter involved. We would love to have all groups from different religions, races, ethnicities ... everyone."

Hiller said he hopes that "don't ask, don't tell" will be repealed before the end of the year.

Said Kornreich, "We hope our 500 calls to Scott Brown's office help send a message loud and clear: We want ["don't ask, don't tell"] repealed not next year, not tomorrow: now.