Court to Review Military Recruiting at Colleges

Billed as a compromise alternative to President Bill Clinton's proposed lifting of the ban on gays in the military, "don't ask, don't tell" was immediately decried by supporters of gay rights, and the military has continued to investigate and expel gay personnel.

The first version of the Solomon Amendment, adopted in 1994, threatened schools only with a loss of Pentagon funding. In 1997, Congress expanded the amendment's scope to include money from other agencies.

Under Clinton, the Defense Department permitted schools to refuse to help military recruiters, as long as they let them at least visit campus.

Harvard Law School, for example, allowed military recruiters to interview students at the offices of its Veterans Association, but did not use its own personnel to set up the interviews.

This approach allowed universities to retain federal funding without violating their antidiscrimination policies.

After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the Bush administration concluded that the law schools must provide the same services to military recruiters as they offer to others.

Among the schools told that they might be in danger of losing federal money was Yale, whose law school had been letting recruiters use a room to meet with students, but had not been helping arrange interviews.

Last year, Congress enacted this new Pentagon policy into law, requiring access "that is at least equal in quality and scope" as that offered other employers.

The membership of FAIR includes New York University, Georgetown and George Washington University law schools. But 13 of the group's 31 members chose not to identify themselves publicly "for fear of retribution" by Congress or donors, said E. Joshua Rosenkranz, a lawyer who represents FAIR.

The case is Rumsfeld v. FAIR , No.04-1152. Oral arguments will take place in the fall, and a decision is expected by July 2006.