Law Center Dean William Treanor issued a memorandum earlier this week explaining the presence of military recruiters on the law campus for its Government Interview Program Sept. 20. The memo was issued Sept. 17, four days before the Tuesday vote in the Senate on the controversial “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

According to Elissa Free, Law Center executive director of communications, military recruiters have had open access to the law campus since the enactment of a 2003 policy triggered by warnings from the Department of Defense that the university’s federal funds hung in the balance.

Passed by Congress in 1994, the Solomon Amendment mandated that universities re-evaluate military recruitment protocol, as it puts schools at risk of losing federal funding – including research funds – for noncompliance with military recruiting standards.

With these financial factors in play, Free said she did not anticipate a Law Center ban on military interviews in the foreseeable future.

“We don’t expect a change unless there is a change in the federal policy,” Free added.

Before 2003, a 1991 policy had barred military recruiters from interviewing students on the law campus, and the university attempted to strike a balance between the Solomon Amendment and opposition to on-campus military recruiting. The updated protocol, established in 1995, allowed the military to advertise jobs through student mailboxes, but restricted interview access to the main campus. But in 2003, Treanor explained, the Department of Defense took issue with the alterations.

“Over the past several years . the Department of Defense has interpreted the Solomon Amendment to place at risk not simply the federal grant and contract funds of the Law Center, but those of the entire university,” Treanor wrote in the memo.

The resulting decision to permit military interviews on the law campus was reached following discussions among the university’s General Counsel, University President John J. DeGioia, faculty members, senior administrators and students, according to the memorandum.

Though military recruiters now have free reign to recruit on the law campus, Treanor said the Law Center administration maintained its opposition to the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

“The Law Center has [not] retreated in any way from our strongly held view that gay, lesbian and bisexual students should be able to seek any and every job for which they are qualified,” Treanor said. “It is unfortunate that federal policy does not take the same view.”

Treanor said he is committed to opposing discrimination but asserted that the Law Center is not contesting military service. Georgetown University Law students are welcome to participate in the Georgetown Army ROTC program.

“We can and will, however, make clear our opposition to discrimination through postings and through educational materials. We will support forums for discussion of the federal policy,” Treanor said.

When contacted for comment, the Georgetown Army ROTC recruiting operations officer Richard Hull provided a statement on military recruitment.

“We support programs that open avenues for qualified applicants for our program and the [U.S.] Army,” he said.

Despite recent controversy over the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy- students at other universities are making a push for military recruitment opportunities, notably for ROTC programs currently unavailable at many schools.

Two students from Columbia University are organizing an intercollegiate conference to bring back ROTC programs to campuses that have prohibited them. According to the Yale Daily News, about 10 schools will attend, including Harvard and Brown.”