Don't punish campuses for supporting equal rights

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court begins hearing oral arguments in Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights. The issue at hand is the constitutionality of the Solomon Amendment -- a regulation that requires all universities (public or private) that receive federal funding or research grants to allow military recruiters on campus. The debate has quickly transformed into a question of free speech with a group of law schools arguing that the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy is discriminatory. These universities say they wouldn't invite discriminatory companies on campus to recruit students, so why should they invite the military?\nWe understand the military needs to recruit people, especially during a time of war. And as citizens of the United States, we owe an allegiance to the public service institutions of our country. It's difficult and somewhat illogical to argue that we want the military to stop recruiting students on campuses. \nBut punishing universities because they support equal rights seems extremely counterproductive. Universities were created to further academic freedom and intellectual curiosity. Stripping a university of federal research money just because it doesn't agree with the military's discriminatory policies is a draconian response to the problem.\nThe penalty will hurt universities academically and "threaten grave damage to the integrity and independence of the nation's universities," a report filed by leading colleges told Supreme Court justices. (The Associated Press, Monday).\nWe hope the highest court in the land will recognize the value of academic freedom and put education first.\nDISSENT\nThe Supreme Court will soon decide the constitutionality of the Solomon Amendment. But as the high court deliberates, all Americans continue under the protection of the U.S. military, as they always do. \nThe campaign to convince people that the Solomon Amendment violates universities' academic freedom to support the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy regarding homosexuals in the military is a cheap cop-out. Those in the counter-recruitment movement could lobby Congress to change the law. \nBut they have instead closed campus doors to military recruiters. The government's case is simply that students who wish to hear a military recruiter's message have equal access as students do to hear other recruiters' messages. Those in opposition seek to deny military recruiters that access. They do not oppose the Solomon Amendment because it is against academic freedom, but because it isn't.\nCritics of the Solomon Amendment wish to eviscerate the power of the federal government to raise an army. They know little about America's national virtues, much less how to defend them.