Overview

ROTC/Military recruitment is allowed on UC campuses, despite the employers' discriminatory policies towards LGBT people. The Solomon Amendment (1996) inhibited campuses' ability to limit military recruiting on any campus. A recent interpretation of the Solomon Amendment allows withdrawal of federal funds from a University, when an individual school (i.e., Law) bars military recruiters.

A number of law schools are collaborating in a campaign against the Solomon restrictions. They advocate implementation of ameliorative measures - short of losing federal funds. See list of ameliorative measures below.

Resources:

• March 6, 2006 Statement by UC President Dynes on U.S. Supreme Court Decision - *pdf format
• Ameliorative Measures - see below.
• http://www.gaymilitary.ucsb.edu/
• http://www.saltlaw.org/solomon/
• ROTC Report - *.pdf format. Created by Ryan Weber, 2003

  Report Contents

  • UCSC Career Center Policy
  • NACE Principles for Employment Professionals
  • NACE Principles for Career Service Professionals
  • 1984 UCOP Letter to Chancellors
  • STATEMENT OF COMPLIANCE
  • 1983 UC POLICY ON NONDISCRIMINATION ON BASIS OF SEXUAL ORIENTATION
  • AALS Position on the Military’s "Don’t ask, don’t tell" Policy
  • Ameliorative Measures
  • 2002 Dean Robert C. Clark Announces Change to HLS Military Recruiting Policy

Ameliorative Measures

• Posting notices alerting students, and everyone else in the law school community, that the military discriminates on a basis not permitted by the school's nondiscrimination policy and the AALS bylaws, and that the school is permitting the military to interview only because of the loss of funds that would otherwise be imposed under the Solomon Amendment (Although the AALS generally does not mandate any particular type of amelioration, some posting of this type is required.);
• Sending a letter from deans to students, detailing the history of the school's nondiscrimination policies; the enactment of the Solomon amendments; the change of campus policies in response; and the commitment to creating a hospitable educational environment for all students;
• Sending letters from law faculty to members of Congress, protesting the military's policy of discriminating against gays and lesbians, expressing disapproval of the Solomon amendments, and asking that they repeal the Solomon-Pombo amendment;
• Establishing a bulletin board on which to encourage faculty and students to express their views about military policies;
• Hosting student forums at which students and others can discuss discrimination by the military;
• Establishing a "Safe Zone" program which teaches faculty, staff, and students about sexual orientation and trains them to respond sensitively to the concerns of gays and lesbians;
• Actively supporting gay and lesbian student organizations;
• Funding students to attend the annual Lavender Law conferences, allowing them to establish networking connections with many lawyers throughout the nation who are openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual;
• Exploring possibilities for fund exchanges within the university to see whether exposure to Solomon Amendment sanction might be reduced to a level at which the school could resume application of its nondiscrimination policy to military recruiters;
• Establishing a permanent faculty-student-staff task force to develop and implement a series of active institutional and individual counter-measures;
• Participating in legal and political challenges both to the Solomon Amendment and the policy of discrimination by the military;
• Providing funding and support for an annual symposium on the issues raised by the Solomon Amendment;
• Purchasing tickets for a fund-raising event each year for a gay and lesbian legal organization.