EDITORIAL: BU LAW was right to allow military recruitment on campus

The Boston University School of Law LGBTQ student organization OutLaw led a protest Monday after the school decided to allow the U.S. military to recruit at a networking event. The protest came in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to uphold President Donald Trump’s executive order barring transgender people from serving in the military.

In a statement to the LAW community, Dean Angela Onwuachi-Willig wrote that the ban on transgender military service conflicted with the school’s values. She wrote also that military recruitment was inconsistent with LAW’s non-discrimination policy, which prohibits recruiters who discriminate on the basis of “gender identity.”
While we are deeply sympathetic with the transgender community at Boston University, we agree with Onwuachi-Willig’s decision to allow military recruitment to take place.

Onwuachi-Willig rightly suspended the non-discrimination policy to military recruiters because of the Solomon Amendment, a law that allows the government to cut a university’s federal funding if it prohibits military recruitment on campus.
There was nothing the dean could realistically do to prevent an organization tarnished by Trump’s anti-transgender policy from recruiting on campus. Risking the federal funding of many BU students could cause serious financial harm. Sometimes, the greater good must be kept in mind.

In her statement, Onwuachi-Willig also made it clear that she understood how this decision could affect the transgender community, writing, “I want trans individuals at BU Law to know that they have my support and respect.”

We wholeheartedly disagree with the Trump administration’s intention to bar transgender people from serving in the military. And while having the military recruit on campus does not directly harm BU’s LGBTQ community, it is horrible that the institution’s presence would cause any students to feel unwelcome or unsafe.

The military should never be involved in politics, and Trump’s policy puts recruiters in an untenable position by forcing them to participate in discrimination. The military’s mission should be to serve and defend the rights of all Americans, no matter their race, gender or sexual orientation.

What is certainly clear, though, is the support that exists on campus for the transgender community. Twenty-two other student groups signed a letter written by OutLaw condemning the situation.

The most important part of the protest was not the anger toward LAW or the military, but rather the support given to members of BU’s transgender community in the face of discrimination.