Here I go, out on a limb.

I'm about to advocate a very controversial position--one that would probably get me killed (or at least vehemently shouted down) if I chose to try to send it to the Harvard Law School newspaper as a letter to the editor. So I'm assuming that the audience of my own blog likes me (and maybe even agrees with me) enough to not kill me for my opinions.

Last week, HLS reinstituted its ban on military recruiting on campus. This is a long, complicated story, told moderately well here, having to do basically with the fact that HLS doesn't want to allow on campus any recruiters who discriminate based on sexual orientation. The military's "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy counts as such discrimination. For the past two years, though, HLS has allowed the military on campus, because a federal law called the Solomon Amendment allows the government to rescind millions and millions of dollars of federal funding to all departments of Harvard University (and any other school) that doesn't allow military recruiters on campus. Last week everything changed because a federal court ruled the Solomon Amendment unconstitutional. (I haven't read the opinion, but it sure sounds like a weak decision to me. Will the Supremes take it? That's a question for another day.)

Anyway, the GLBT organization here at Harvard, "Lambda," seems to exist for the sole purpose of opposing the Solomon Amendment, and now they're celebrating. Today at lunch, you can eat rainbow Skittles while signing a "Thank you note" to the dean.

I don't support the school's change in position.

Sure, there are a lot of people who feel demeaned and insulted by the military's policy. But "Don't Ask Don't Tell" to me isn't the point, though it is very much the point for Lambda. The point for me is that HLS is arrogant enough to think that its institutional values are more important than the careers and personal values of its diverse student body.

Suppose you're a straight student at HLS (hey--I am!). Now suppose further that you are interested in a legal career with the military. Under the newly reestablished policy, you have to search out a military recruiter yourself. There is probably one somewhere here in the Boston area, but it's your responsibility to track him down, convince him to take your resume, schedule an interview, travel off-campus to that interview (perhaps missing class?), and so on. Sure, it's not an insurmountable burden, but when all your classmates who are going to work for greedy corporate law firms just need to fill out a little form online and poof! they magically have 30 interviews lined up within walking distance of their classes, you're going to feel a little different. You might even go so far as to say you've been discriminated against because of your career choice.

So Harvard as an institution disapproves of the military's policy. Why should Harvard's position have any impact upon my career options? If I decide that I don't mind the military's policy, and I want to work for them anyway, where does Harvard get the right to make it harder for me, simply because the dean disagrees with me?

I'm going to assume that any openly gay student won't want to work for the military, no matter how the recruiting process is conducted. If we allow military recruiters to participate in on-campus recruiting along with the law firms, the JAG wannabes will have easy access to the career of their choice (the military), and the GLBT students will have easy access to the career of their choice (law firms, supposedly). Everyone's happy. Where's the problem?

The problem, I guess, is that the GLBT students feel insulted by the policies of an organization they don't want to work for. Well, guess what? I am insulted and offended by the policies of other organizations that support positions I disagree with, too. But I realize that people have differing opinions, so I don't apply for a job with them, and I move on with my life. The fact that this is the government with the offensive policies does change the situation a little bit, but you're not going to get the government to change its policies by barring it from on-campus recruiting. That's a different battle that needs to be fought on Capitol Hill, not in the Office of Career Services.

Harvard should not restrict any employer from access to its recruiting resources. Doing so goes directly against the school's stated commitment to diversity. Some employers are better suited for some students than others. With such a diverse student body, we need to provide access for all students to easily get the job they most desire.