Revesz joins other law school deans in urging repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

Dean Richard Revesz and the deans of four other law schools have made a collective call for an end to the U.S. military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which prohibits gays and lesbians from serving openly in the armed forces.

In a March 18 letter to the Armed Service committees of both chambers of Congress, the five deans wrote: “One of our core missions is training America’s public servants and providing them with opportunities to serve in all levels of government. Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell directly obstructs our efforts, preventing some of our best and brightest from serving their country in the Armed Forces. In our capacity as educators, we seek to instill values of tolerance and respect. These values suffer when any member of our community experiences discrimination.”

The letter commends President Barack Obama, who called for repeal of the policy in this year’s State of the Union address, as well as Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Michael Mullen, who have also expressed their support for ending the ban: “We applaud their positions, and urge you to lend your full support to the Pentagon and Commander-in-Chief on this matter.”

Signing the letter were Revesz; Christopher Edley Jr., dean of the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law; Larry Kramer, dean of Stanford Law School; Martha Minow, dean of Harvard Law School; and Robert Post, dean of Yale Law School.

Posted on March 19, 2010