Several HLS professors said yesterday that they were disappointed in Summers’ decision and said they would sign onto a faculty lawsuit. Law professors at the University of Pennsylvania and at Yale have launched faculty lawsuits challenging the amendment.

In addition, New York University’s law school and 14 other schools filed suit in September as the Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights.

“It is regrettable that Harvard University is among those institutions willing to tolerate discriminatory practices against its students,” Ogletree said.

“I don’t think the President’s decision will at all deter the law faculty from fighting this amendment with a serious lawsuit.”

Ogletree said he plans to sign onto the suit and predicts that he will be joined by dozens of colleagues.

“We can’t spend our days talking about policies of non-discrimination and then tolerate it in our personal lives,” he said.

Last fall, Frankfurter Professor of Law Alan M. Dershowitz said that he was “anxious” to mount a suit against the government, but decided to wait until the cause had more support from the gay community.

Dershowitz said he did not sign the letter delivered to Summers.

“My views are already well-known, and I didn’t think it was necessary for me to sign the petition,” said Dershowitz, who says that he will wait to see the lawsuit his colleagues craft before signing onto it.

Dershowitz added that he thinks it is only worthwhile to file a suit if it has a chance of being taken seriously.

“It has to be solidly based. One group that could easily file a great suit is gay and lesbian students at HLS—they are direct victims of this.”

—Staff Writer Lauren A.E. Schuker can be reached at schuker@fas.harvard.edu.