On Nov. 29, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that educational institutions have a First
Amendment right to bar military recruiters from their campuses to protest the Defense Department policy
of excluding gays from military service. A spokesman for the Justice Department, Mark Corallo, said no
decision had been made on an appeal. In response, retired Navy Vice Adm. Norbert R. Ryan, Jr., President
of the Military Officers Association of America, wrote Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Dec. 2,
urging him to appeal the decision. Ryan stated that, with the nation at war,