Editorial: Law unfair to campuses

Thursday, Dec. 9, 2004 | 9:28 a.m.

A divided three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia last week overturned the Solomon Amendment. This is a law passed by Congress in 1996 authorizing the Defense Department to block federal funding to any college or university that denies access to military recruiters. Nevada's two universities, at Reno and here in Las Vegas, currently allow military recruiters on campus. Time will tell if those policies are rooted in support of the military, or fear of losing federal dollars.

We hope the ruling by the three-judge panel is upheld. Campuses are free to decide for themselves who appears on campus to acquaint students with job opportunities. They don't have to allow the pornography industry on Career Day, for example. So they shouldn't have to bear repercussions for availing themselves of that freedom, any more than a student should be denied a government-backed student loan for choosing or rejecting a particular course of study.

The case before the federal court in Philadelphia was brought by a coalition of law schools, which argued that the Solomon law forced them to violate their policies of inviting only equal-opportunity employers on campus. The military, since the Revolutionary War, has discriminated against homosexuals. Even today a member of any branch of the service can be discharged if adjudged a homosexual.

No federal law should, in effect, force a university or college to violate its anti-discrimination policies. Many campuses got around the Solomon law by allowing military recruiters while denying them the same accommodations and services provided to civilian recruiters. But after 9/11, the government bore down on such practices. This extra heavy-handed governmental intrusion is what led to the coalition's lawsuit.

While we oppose the Solomon law that all but forces the hand of colleges, we do not oppose the presence of military recruiters on campuses. In fact, we applaud campuses that welcome them. While the military's discrimination against homosexuals is wrong, in our view, it is nonetheless legal -- something that can't be said for such discrimination in civilian workplaces.

Also, providing the military branches with access to campuses is necessary if we are to avoid bringing back the draft. The military must have access to the best sources for new leaders. And certainly, no matter what policy is being pursued by the commander-in-chief, the individual members of the military deserve our respect at all times, whether they're engaged in combat in Afghanistan or engaged in conversation with a student on campus.