Forgive the title, I’ve been playing quite a bit of Halo 3 as of late.
Yale Law School suffered a rare loss today in a legal battle with the Department of Defense over the rights of military recruiters to operate within the school. Yale Law had previously rejected the presence of military recruiters based on their objection to the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy that bars openly gay individuals from service. While the federal government contends the university has been up to now opting out of its minimal obligations to the country’s defense, the school complains that recruiters are the only employers allowed who do not comply with its nondiscrimination policy.The stakes for Yale in this case? The university would stand to lose $350 million a year in federal grants, nothing to shake a stick at – even for the school with the highest rate of growth in its endowment of all private universities. Yale’s Professor Robert Burt, the lead plaintiff in the case, explained Yale’s position succinctly: “We had a choice… We’re not going to bring the medical school and the whole science enterprise to its knees.”
Activists at Yale are hoping their militant anti-militarism holds water. Students plan to stage a silent protest today, as the recruiters move in for the kill – I mean, the Fall Interview Program. After all, there remains something worth fighting for at Yale law: ROTC classes are still not allowed.
If there’s a debate in this country that makes me want to yank out bloody fistfuls of hair (someone else’s, not mine), it’s recruitment on campus.
The whole raison d’être of the “recruiters off campus” movement is to oppose Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Yeah yeah, you don’t admit gays, we won’t admit your recruiters…fascist pigs! I get it.
Only the military had a whole lot of nothing to do with the policy. Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was mandated by Congress and signed by President Clinton in 1993. And, for those of you Ivy Leaguers whose 40k a year education hasn’t taught you the basics of the civil-military relationship, that means the Pentagon has zippy say in whether or not they admit gays.
Quite frankly, with the Army and Marines trying to expand as rapidly as they are, I think Ace and Gary would’ve have been given matching pink M4s years ago, had it been up to the brass.
So either Ivy Leaguers are too dumb/lazy to understand Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, or they are knowingly manipulating the policy to mask their hatred for the US Armed Forces.
A little of both, says I…. but that’s all gravy at this point anyway. Recruiters are back, and I’ve learned an important lesson: convictions in the Ivy League run only as deep as their pockets.
I do wonder which poor NCO draws the short straw and has to brave academia. I suggested that we reactivate Sgt. Slaughter for the mission, but nobody ever listens to my awesome ideas.
Yale’s policy is a strange way for a law school to demonstrate to future lawyers about how to deal with laws you disagree with. But they should just admit it, this was all a noble attempt to keep the young impressionable lawyers from being seduced by military recruiters offering a career of honor and duty. That could ruin them for a career of swindling investors and bribing congressmen that many of the other employers offer.
I say “great”… the less lawyers in the military, the better.
It looks like the law that bars the expenditure of Federal funds by any institution that bars military recruiters has some real fangs!
Perhaps what we need is a companion law that would ban all Federal funds to “…any state, county, city, or political subdivision thereof, which shall be found by the Secretary of Defense, to have discriminated against the Department of Defense, any member of the military service, or the dependent of any member of the military service.” And perhaps a ban of two or three years, and a requirement for a formal requalification before receiving any future funds from the Treasury. What do you think? Might that just cause idiots like the film commissioner in San Francisco, and the Airports director in Oakland to give a little more careful attention to decisions that seem to have been colored by their political passion?
The first thing you do is get their attention!
Sergeant Slaughter and his marauders! He’d recruit with extreme prejudice!
John,
I agree with your position and your passion, but am disappointed that you chose to paint all Ivy Leaguers with the same brush. Don’t presume that the opinions of a few anti-military academics at Yale Law School are shared by other students, staff, or alumni at Ivy League Universities.
Needless to say, there are plenty of us that understand the sacrifices made by the US military and honor them for it.
On the other hand, if you want to lump all the lawyers together into one big sphere of evil, count me in. ;)
Why not take a leaf from the book of Julius Ceasar and form gay battalions? They can have tank-top uniforms, pink tanks, whatever – just as long as they can fight and win.
Re:”Only the military had a whole lot of nothing to do with the policy. Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was mandated by Congress and signed by President Clinton in 1993. And, for those of you Ivy Leaguers whose 40k a year education hasn’t taught you the basics of the civil-military relationship, that means the Pentagon has zippy say in whether or not they admit gays. ”
That statement is only partially true. The US military did a poor job of defending why it hurts readiness. Just like with the admission of women to places they don’t belong, the leadership failed to stick up for their services. Would that they had at least gone down fighting like VMI did.