Wisconsin Lawyer
Vol. 80, No. 2, February
2007
U.W. Law School students oppose congressional amendment
Last December, the U.W. Law School student body passed a resolution
opposing the congressional
Solomon Amendment, which requires schools to provide the military with
full access to students for recruitment purposes or
risk the termination of certain federal funds.
The amendment. The Solomon Amendment, originally
passed in 1995, forces the law school to suspend for
the Armed Services its longstanding policy that any employer using the
Career Services Office to recruit or employ
law students or graduates must agree not to discriminate on the basis
of age, race, creed, color, handicap, marital status,
sex, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, arrest record, or
conviction record. Failure by the law school to comply
with the amendment would endanger funds not only to the law school
itself, but to the university as a whole.
"The current state of affairs puts law schools like ours in an
intolerable position," said U.W. Law School
Dean Kenneth B. Davis Jr. "For many of our students, service in
the JAG Corps is an attractive career opportunity. But
for some students we are required to say to them, in effect, that you
are welcome to apply to this employer only if
you misrepresent who you are. While the U.W. Law School cannot change
the hiring policies of the Armed Services
and must comply with the Solomon Amendment, we oppose discrimination
of any kind and will continue to work to make
the law school a welcoming and supportive place for all of our
students."
The resolution. The resolution, passed by
three-quarters of the law school's student body, expresses
student outrage with the policy and support for the school's gay,
lesbian, and bisexual students subjected to the policy's
blatant discrimination.
"Our stance against the Solomon Amendment sends a message that
the next generation of lawyers will not
accept, nor endorse through its silence, discrimination of any kind
within the bar," said Samuel Rikkers, a third-year law
student and a primary sponsor of the resolution.
Wisconsin Lawyer
