Statement on Military Recruiting

Message from the Dean on Military Recruiting

As you may be aware, units of the U.S. military will be recruiting law students as part of our On-Campus Interviewing program. I wanted to notify you that these organizations do not comply with the anti-discrimination policy of the Law School and the University with respect to sexual orientation. Nor have these military employers signed our non-discrimination statement, which forbids discriminatory employers from using campus facilities for recruiting purposes, because of their policies regarding sexual orientation that conflict with our policy.

As you know, under the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue" policy, openly gay and lesbian applicants are ineligible for military service or JAG employment; and if their sexual orientation is found out during their term of service, they will be discharged. The military is the only employer recruiting on campus that has refused to sign the Law School's non-discrimination statement.

I personally do not believe that employment discrimination based on sexual orientation has any legitimate place in our society, and I therefore oppose the current policy of the military. Certainly, as dean of Northwestern Law, I will not tolerate discrimination or intolerance within the Law School community itself.

Under current regulations, a refusal by the Law School to permit on-campus recruiting by the military could result in loss of federal grants for the entire University.

I believe that our students have the maturity and good judgment to make their own decisions about whether or not to accept employment in one of the branches of the military, which, aside from this policy, offer excellent career opportunities to recent law graduates. Members of our community should respect those individual decisions, even as they make known their criticism of the military's discriminatory policy.

By allowing such groups to interview on campus, neither I, the Law School, the Center for Career Strategy, nor Northwestern University as a whole, endorse the discriminatory practices employed by the military.

David E. Van Zandt, Dean

Notice of Military Discrimination and Law School Non-Discrimination Policy