The U.S. Supreme Court's unanimous decision Monday to uphold the Solomon Amendment, a mandate requiring federally funded universities like UW-Madison to give military recruiters equal access on campus, has led some campus organizations to question if recruiters' policies are directly associated with the University's image.
In particular, the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell\ policy has drawn criticism from some gay-rights organizations on campus.
The Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights, an association of law schools and faculties who support policies against sexual orientation discrimination, nationally played a large role in challenging the amendment.
Although UW-Madison's Law School did not directly contribute in the case, ""if the decision had gone the other way, the Law School would have been in the position to be able to deny military recruiters access to our students,"" said Jane Heymann, a UW-Madison Law School spokesperson.
The amendment also entails putting millions of dollars in federal funding at risk when deciding whether or not to ban military recruiters on campus, said Casey Nagy, spokesperson for UW-Madison Chancellor John Wiley.
Though UW-Madison will continue to allow military recruiters on campus, opposing ideologies regarding gay rights may still remain an issue. But First Amendment free-speech acts must be upheld, Nagy said.
""It has always been the chancellor's view that military recruitment is an exercise of free speech, which is something this campus defends, however popular or unpopular the speaker or the message,"" he said.
Due to this right, military recruiters would have been allowed to come to campus whether the Solomon Amendment would have been overturned or not, he said.
However, Stop the War member and UW-Madison junior Bill Anderson said the Solomon Amendment is a violation of a school's freedom of association.
""Regardless of the Solomon Amendment or any freedom of association issue, the military is a destructive institution and it should be dismantled,"" Anderson said. ""UW should not be sponsoring war, it should not be sponsoring military research or having contracts with the Department of Defense.""
The real issue, said Eric Trekell, director of the LGBT campus center, lies with the military's policy on homosexuality, not the amendment that was upheld Monday.
""I think the appropriate approach is for us to get rid of the ‘Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy [rather than the Solomon Amendment],"" Trekell said.
Despite these opinions, UW-Madison law professor Gordon Baldwin said it is important to note the case had no dissent.
""The Court relied mostly on the provision in the Constitution saying Congress has the power to raise or support armies,"" Baldwin said.
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