'Don’t-Ask, Don’t-Tell', Law Schools and Federal Money

George Will’s op-ed, 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Hypocrisy, in this Sunday’s Washington Post is an interesting read for its exposing of the entitlement mentality of the publicly funded law schools involved in the current case before the Supreme Court. They declare they should continue to receive federal money even while baring military recruiters from their campuses.

From reading the comments and questions asked by the Justices, it would seem they, the law schools, are doomed to failure on this one.
My favorite parts include:

… last week Chief Justice John Roberts said that "nobody" infers an academic institution's support for the views and policies of every employer allowed to recruit on campus. And as Justice Sandra Day O'Connor noted, schools are free to communicate their moral and political stances constantly. Certainly schools are not bashful about doing so. But the court has held that "students may not be regarded as closed-circuit recipients of only that which the [school] chooses to communicate."

and

Regarding the schools' theory that any conduct can be imbued with "communicative force," Justice Antonin Scalia wondered whether the schools might also justify banning military recruiters during a war the faculty disapproved of, because allowing the recruiters would be tantamount to the schools' endorsing the war.

Or because the professors object to the military's barring women from combat or using land mines. The possibilities are as numerous as the professors' reasons for interposing their moral sensibilities between Congress and its constitutional power to "raise and support armies."

Furthermore, more than four other justices probably share Scalia's incredulity concerning this implication of the schools' argument: When an individual or institution gives as a reason for violating the law the fact that he or it wants to send a message, the violation acquires First Amendment protection. By such reasoning, a school barring blacks from campus could say its conduct is infused with an expressive purpose, hence shielded by the First Amendment.

And there’s this final paragraph:

Today's schools bristle with moral principles that they urge upon the -- so they think -- benighted society beyond their gates. But as Roberts blandly reminded the schools regarding their desire to bar military recruiters: "You are perfectly free to do that, if you don't take the money."

Of course, Colleges and Universities have a “don’t-ask-don’t-tell” policy too. Theirs relates to the politics of faculty members, visitors or students. Should one be conservative, you better not espouse your beliefs or you’ll become the target of the “tolerant” Progressives on campus. It might result in a pie in the face, a firing or harassment so severe you need to leave.