BY DLYONS@LAW.HARVARD.EDU
Dear editor,
Pink soldiers invading classrooms, with a call to arms to flood Dean Kagan’s inbox. Thus begins the annual HLS ritual to protest the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.
But it is unclear to me whether those calling for a ban on military recruiting really intend to change the military’s discriminatory behavior. Ultimately, it is not the officers in the JAG program who set the military’s recruiting guidelines. The don’t ask, don’t tell policy is a political creation, spawn of executive action with implicit congressional approval. By barring the military from recruiting on campus, protesters simply prevent those students interested in a military career from pursuing their goals-making a political statement using others’ futures.
If students wish to use recruiting as a tool of protest, they should refuse to apply for lucrative positions in the political branches, such as the Justice Department or U.S. Attorney Offices. And do so noisily, announcing on these pages the reason for their decision. This would be truly courageous dissent, rooted in self-sacrifice rather than career fratricide.
Daniel Lyons3L