Yesterday’s unanimous Supreme Court decision confirming the constitutionality of the Solomon Amendment was completely justified. The opposing argument, that allowing recruiters on campus violates the First Amendment, was tenuous at best. But that does not mean we should be happy about their presence.

The University should never make campus recruiting easy for any organization that has an explicitly discriminatory policy. But, sadly, the government is using extortion to undercut the University’s principled stance on discrimination. The threat of losing hundreds of millions of dollars in federal research funding has forced the University to ignore the immoral treatment of homosexuals in the military. Under any other circumstance, the military would not be allowed on campus.

It is a simple truth that this university could not operate without the money we receive from the government. As a result, we see no option but to accept the Solomon Amendment. The University cannot afford to forgo the funding. The University can and should release an official statement declaring that the U.S. military’s current policy towards homosexuals is antithetical to the University’s commitment to non-discriminatory hiring. This statement should be public, and it should be vehement. Furthermore, students should be informed in order to galvanize the community and protest the military’s discriminatory policies.