At noon today, members of Lambda Law and its supporters across the University plan to gather in protest of on-campus recruiting by the U.S. military. Protesters argue that the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy is discriminatory.
In conjunction with the lawsuit against the Department of Defense filed last year, the protest organized by Lambda Law -- a Penn Law School student group that advocates for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues -- is designed to give voice to the University community's frustrations over sexual preference discrimination, which activists argue is in violation of Penn Law's non-discrimination policy.
"The point of the protest is to make people aware of the situation that we are in right now. The military has bullied their way onto our campus in violation of the values that we share and we have expressed in our policies," said Jacob Press, a second-year law student and Lamba Law co-chairman.
"The U.S. military, because of the "don't ask, don't tell' policy, is in violation of Penn Law School's anti-discrimination policy. So according to Law School ... rules, [the U.S. military] should not be permitted to participate in on-campus recruiting," Press said.
The U.S. Army is scheduled to participate in on-campus recruiting today.
The group is protesting "to show the military that we believe in the non-discrimination policy -- it's not just lip-service," second-year Law School and Lamba Law Co-Chairwoman Maura McKenna said.
Lambda Law organized a similar protest last year, which attracted around 50 people. This year, protest organizers are expecting a larger turnout, weather permitting, as the protest is supported by a number of student groups.
LGBT Center Director Bob Schoenberg expressed his support for the protest's cause, saying that this issue affects "not only Law School students, but all students and, in fact, the faculty of the University."
In fact, some estimates place up to $800 million of federal funding possibly at stake in this issue.
The protest will begin at the Sansom Street entrance of the Law School, proceed to 36th Street and then onto Locust Walk, culminating in a rally outside Career Services, according to organizers.
"It's not a gay or a straight issue. ... Everyone at Penn Law has benefited from respect and accepts the diversity initiative," McKenna said.
Those involved understand that this protest is part of a larger battle that transcends today's effort, the Law School and even the University, as similar actions are taken by a number of institutions across the country.
"We plan to be visible, and we plan to be vocal, and we plan to do it for as long as they plan to do it," McKenna said, adding that the protesters hope that the aggregate of their actions will demonstrate to the U.S. Armed Forces that it is not in their best interest to recruit on Penn's campus if they are not an equal-opportunity employer.
To emphasize their message, a number of protesters have scheduled interviews with Army recruiters. Activists plan to use the interviews to personally vocalize their positions to the Army representatives.
