Don't Ask, Dont Tell... so Don't Recruit

During the summer, when "college" is a very touchy subject, I heard that Yale and Harvard did not allow military recruiters on campus because of the discriminatory nature of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy regarding homosexuals in the military. Washington Post explains:

The Solomon Amendment, a federal law whose most recent version was adopted in 2004, seeks to do just that. Enacted at the urging of the Bush administration, it says that military recruiters' access to campuses and students must be "equal in quality and scope" to that enjoyed by "any other employer." Otherwise, the schools stand to lose millions of dollars -- hundreds of millions in the case of institutions such as Yale and Harvard.

The Supreme Court heard this issue and weren't impressed by the case presented by the colleges:

The constitutional question was one of free speech and association. The federal appeals court in Philadelphia, ruling last year in a lawsuit brought by a coalition of some three dozen law schools, barred enforcement of the Solomon Amendment on the ground that it forced the schools to "propagate, accommodate and subsidize the military's expressive message" of disapproval of homosexuality despite the law schools' commitment to equal rights for their gay students.

Since 1991, the American Association of Law Schools, which includes 166 of the 188 accredited law schools, has required its member schools to insist that prospective employers agree to a policy of nondiscrimination on grounds that include sexual orientation. As law schools began to bar military recruiters, Congress responded with a series of amendments to military spending bills. While the measures were addressed to universities, and not specifically to law schools, it was the law schools that were the source of resistance.

At first, Congress provided only that Defense Department grants would be withheld. Eventually, it added a long list of federal agencies and made clear that a denial of access by any part of a university would jeopardize federal grants to the entire university. At this point, with the stakes so high, law schools began to give in, many complying grudgingly by relegating military recruiters to off-campus locations. Congress responded last year by adding the provision that requires not only access, but equal access.

I'm not exactly partial to either side. I think the government fundamentally has a right to deny federal funding if a college refuses to cooperate. However, taking away entire federal grants seems so stupid and childish. Geez, the law schools have a POLICY which has been around for mover than a decade now that prohibits discrimination. The military's gay policy can be interpreted as being discriminatory. When Congress threatens to take away the federal funds for the entire university because its law school has this anti-discriminatory and therefore an anti-military recruiting policy, it's just trying too hard to exert power. I've got a better idea... Change the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy because leading academic (not to mention LAW-related) institutions obviously find some flaws with it.

I get the gut feeling that I'm sounding slightly incoherent. This decaf has been brought to you by a shot of Peet's espresso, lots of analytical questions on Crime and Punishment and an interesting day at work. Now, back to work so that I can get into college.