In recent months the Department of Defense has pressured law schools across the country to reverse their policies barring military recruiters from their campuses.
Since August, law schools at Harvard University, Yale University, Georgetown University and the University of Southern California all have allowed military recruiters on campus rather than risk losing hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding.
Previously, these law schools prohibited military recruiters from their campuses because they viewed the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy toward homosexuals as violating school anti-discrimination policies.
The military unconditionally banned homosexuals prior to 1993, when Congress put into law a "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Viewing both of these policies as discrimination, many law schools limited the ability of military recruiters to come onto their campuses.
"The military recruiters themselves say they won't hire someone who is gay," Saltzman said.
The policy was created by Congress, not the Pentagon and thus is outside of DOD control, department officials said.
"The homosexual policy is based in law," an official in the DOD said, adding that "the Department of Defense is following the law."
Saltzman acknowledged this, but added, "don't ask, don't tell is in violation of our non-discrimination policy."
Many law schools recently have started allowing military recruiters on campus because an amendment to the 1996 National Defense Authorization Act, known as the Solomon Amendment, withholds federal funds from colleges and universities that do not allow military recruiters on campus. In 2000, Congress strengthened the law, adding that if any school from a college or university bars military recruiters, the entire school stands to lose federal funding.
This change created massive financial incentives for law schools to exempt the military from their non-discrimination policies. For example, Harvard, Yale and USC stood to lose $328 million, $350 million and $500 million respectively if their law schools did not allow federal recruiters.
Rather than lose this funding, these schools have chosen to bend to the DOD's request.
Recruitment on law school campuses is important to recruiting skilled employees, and the DOD is working to ensure that every law school allows military recruiters, DOD officials said.
Saltzman questioned, however, whether forcing law schools to allow military recruiters on their campuses actually helps them hire law school students.
Prior to the recent change, USC allowed the military to recruit law students through the University's ROTC office, Saltzman said.
By forcing USC to change its non-discrimination policy, the DOD is more likely to alienate prospective hirees than recruit them, he said.
Defense officials dismissed this idea, however, saying military recruiters are guaranteed "equal access" under the Solomon Amendment.
Though the Solomon Amendment has been on the books since 1996 and its most recent significant change occurred in 2000, many college administrators think the law has been enforced more zealously in recent months.
Harvard Law School previously allowed military recruitment through a student organization, Harvard Law School Dean Robert C. Clark said in a written statement in August.
In 1998 the Air Force said this put Harvard in compliance with the Solomon Act, but this year the Air Force claimed Harvard Law School was not in compliance, Clark said.
"Post 9/11, it's pretty clear that they are being more aggressive," Saltzman said.
DOD officials said, however, that recent strict enforcement of the policy stems from the changes to the Solomon Amendment made in 2000, which caused the DOD to review whether schools were in compliance.
Though the University Law School has a non-discrimination policy for homosexuals, it exempts the military and the federal government, said Steve Hapson, Law School career services dean.
"We have been instructed by the BOV that we ought to do this," Hapson said.
"We don't have any trouble with it and it provides an important career option."
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