From Akhil Amar, David Lat, and Simon Lazarus on TrapHouseGate and the Broader Climate at Yale Law School

Amar: The Yale Law School administration has been "dilatory, duplicitous, disingenuous, downright deplorable."

[1.] You can see Amar's comments here, with the relevant portion starting at about 58:30:

[2.] David Lat has a characteristically thoughtful analysis here, with many further details about the state of things at Yale Law School beyond what had been aired publicly. He also adds:

Professor Amar is not the only Democrat and person from the left side of the aisle who believes that the YLS administration should apologize to Colbert for how he was treated. Simon Lazarus—Yale Law class of 1967 and an alum of the Carter Administration, where he served as associate director of the White House Domestic Policy Staff—also wrote an excellent, detailed analysis of Trap House-gate….

Lazarus's piece was emailed around the YLS faculty yesterday by Professor Bruce Ackerman—who is, along with Akhil Amar, one of Yale Law's leading scholars of constitutional law, as well as no one's idea of a conservative. Not many faculty members have spoken publicly about recent events at YLS, but those who have raised concerns about the overall intellectual environment—including Ackerman, Amar, Amy Chua, and Roberta Romano—are some of the school's most well-known and well-respected professors.

[3.] Finally, the final paragraph from Lazarus, a prominent liberal lawyer:

"Inflection point" is an overused cliché, but in my opinion it applies to this situation. If YLS does not disavow the practices revealed by this incident, and either reaffirm or thoughtfully adjust the Vann Woodward Report's robustly free-expression-centered regime, it will become a radically different institution from the one that gave me my finest educational experience, in moral as well as professional terms, and wholly deserved stature among America's, and the world's, law schools.

Inside baseball, I know, but we're baseball insiders at an inside baseball blog.

Comments

[Brett Bellmore]

"and either reaffirm or thoughtfully adjust"

"Adopt" might have been better there, unless it's proposed that Yale edit the Vann Woodward report.

[Krayt]

The way some want to "thoughtfully adjust" the First Amendment, to forbid people bitching about them.

[y81]

"Thoughtfully adjust"? I take it that means something like, "No animal shall sleep in a bed WITH SHEETS."

[bernard11]

So apparently the whole thing is not a conspiracy by a monolithic left to impose woke tyranny on YLS.

I have no doubt some here are astonished to learn that, except they won't accept it.

[y81]

You mean it's like how the existence of Trotskyists proved that Communism was no threat?

[bernard11]

Plenty of nut cases on the right, y81.

[Ed Grinberg]

Well, let's see:
- Are you disputing that it's the Left that's doing this?
- Are you disputing that what they have in mind -- not being able to say things they don't like -- is tyranny?
- They're enough of them, and they're sufficiently well-placed, to make this a "conspiracy." It's nice to see some liberals oppose this conspiracy. But the conspiracy itself is in full swing.

[Queen Amalthea]

"Are you disputing that what they have in mind -- not being able to say things they don't like -- is tyranny?"

Uh, like nearly every workplace and institution in the world always? Go in to your workplace/church/neighbor's house tomorrow and start speaking against your boss/minister/neighbor and their beliefs plans, I'm betting you'll soon feel the 'tyranny!'

[TwelveInchPianist]

Why am I not shocked that QA doesn't understand the difference between my neighbor's house and an institute of higher learning.

[Queen Amalthea]

Why am I not shocked that 12" elided the "nearly every workplace and institution in the world always" part? Lil' Tucker Jr. has to fan his moral panic of the month!

[TwelveInchPianist]

Sigh. OK, why am I not shocked that QA doesn't understand the difference between nearly every workplace in the world always, and an institution of higher learning.

And nevermind the fact that the students don't work there.

[Michael P]

You're right. It's a conspiracy by an almost monolithic left. That's such an important difference... to foolish apologists.

[Michael D]

It is you who added the word “monolithic” to this conversation and then say there is no monolithic left.

I see what you did there

[Queen Amalthea]

"I have no doubt some here are astonished to learn that, except they won't accept it."

You called it, they confirmed.

[Michael D]

He called what? Oh, you mean he created the argument and then refuted his own argument?

[wolfefan]

Nice to see David Lat here, given Joe Patrice's ridiculous ATL column defending Yale.

[Cal Cetín]

These Yale professors and alums are all ankle-biters. They might be more comfortable at Liberty University or East Nowhereville Communisty College.

[zztop8970]

"Akhil Reed Amar (born September 6, 1958) is an American legal scholar known for his expertise in constitutional law and criminal procedure. He holds the position of Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale University.[1] A Legal Affairs poll placed Amar among the top 20 contemporary US legal thinkers.[2]"

Look up "Sterling Professor", sonny, you're embarrassing yourself.

[Michael P]

"Without a clear indication of the author's intent, it is difficult or impossible to tell the difference between an expression of sincere extremism and a parody of extremism." - Poe's Law

Given CC's other comments, I believe his comment above was deeply sarcastic.

[zztop8970]

Ah, didn't realize that. SDNWOTI

[TwelveInchPianist]

"These Yale professors and alums are all ankle-biters."

Backwater uneducated goobers.

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

They sound like strong candidates (if White and male) to become Conspirators, filling the void created when Prof. Kerr became too well to attend (or just finally realized that people who endorse Ted Cruz are . . . well, just watch).

[Cal Cetín]

Why must you make yourself so darned difficult to parody?

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

You figure there is another reason Prof. Kerr distanced himself from this increasingly partisan, downscale, White, male blog? Let's hear it.

[Cal Cetín]

I'm more interested in what race you believe Akhil Amar to be. Isn't that the important consideration, after all?

[Archibald Tuttle]

"as well as no one's idea of a conservative."
What the heck does that mean?

"If YLS does not disavow the practices revealed by this incident, and either reaffirm or thoughtfully adjust the Vann Woodward Report's"
What the heck does that mean?

It seems that a qualification of modern academia is the ability to speak incomprehensively.

[Cal Cetín]

I'm not really sure what "thoughtfully adjust" means, but the Woodward Report *used to* be a ideal toward which Yale aspired - and since the report came from Yale it was influential at other universities too.

The university even has the report on its Web site, just like the U. S. government keeps the Constitution under glass to be seen by the public during normal viewing hours:

https://yalecollege.yale.edu/get-know-yale-college/office-dean/reports/report-committee-freedom-expression-yale

[y81]

But, as Queen Amalthea explains above, neither Yale nor any other university actually believes in or applies the report. Only dumb right-wing yahoos would even suggest that it has any actual force.

[Randal]

The ability to speak incomprehensively? This would be a brilliantly funny post if you were brilliant.

[Dilan Esper]

I realize we are way too far gone down the road of the consumer model of higher education (and I guess we can't have otherwise with these folks paying so much in tuition), but has it occurred to any of these students that they are there to learn? That the whole point of being a student is that you are ignorant and we have a bunch of experts here who can inform you about stuff you don't know and haven't learned yet so that one day you might be an expert?

It strikes me that a critical mass of students really do come to these places thinking they are a lot more brilliant and knowledgeable than they really are and that they should be running things. And because of the high tuition they pay (and often the rich families they come from), they don't feel any obligation to just shut up, defer to authority figures, and learn.

And this attitude seems to be infecting workplaces too.

Certainly where there actually are tyrannical abuses, this modern climate has its good side. I think, for instance, a professor sexually harassing his students would be much more likely to be found out in this modern era.

But 99% of these controversies are situations where the university wasn't being tyrannical but you just had a bunch of whiny students who don't accept they idea that they are intellectual subordinates and need to just show up to class and learn.

[TwelveInchPianist]

"but has it occurred to any of these students that they are there to learn?"

No. They're all hopped up on the CRT. From K-12 and in undergrad they're told that they're not supposed to learn, they're supposed to identify and disrupt the power structures that enable white supremacy at Yale. Why would they want to learn from white supremacists?

[Queen Amalthea]

Lol, look at lil' Tucker Junior!

[Sarcastr0]

Have you talked to any undergrads lately?

Because seems to me you're making this up based on whatever stories you're marinating in.

I have, and they're largely as apolitical as ever. Not that you're ever one to be ware of confirmation bias.

[TwelveInchPianist]

"Because seems to me you're making this up based on whatever stories you're marinating in."

The current story I'm marinating in is about students who complained about an email that said "trap house" to the point where the admin had to get involved and publicly embarrass itself.

[Sarcastr0]

So yeah, you're taking an anecdote and, after making some assumptions about events, massively generalizing.

That's how confirmation bias works.

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

The consensus appears to be that this student is painfully awkward, naive, and a poor writer rather than an established racist.

The evidence seems to support that as a likely (but not the sole) reasonable conclusion

Let's hope he improves -- learns -- before he graduates.

[Dilan Esper]

I doubt there are any "established racist" students at Yale Law School, but even if there were, it nobody employed the other students to be the racism police. If someone actually DID something racist that injured another ​student, it would be the administration's job to handle it.

The students should be there to learn.

[TwelveInchPianist]

They're not going to be they're to learn if they're taught that scholarship involves activism.

[y81]

They have learned. They have learned that Dean Cosgrove believes that Federalist Society members should be reported to the Committee on Character and Fitness.

The desire to blame the students for these episodes is prevalent among the Conspirators, who don't wish to be known by the company they keep, but the plain and simple fact is that the administrators are like Southern sheriffs expressing regret at the actions of a lynch mob. It is lies all the way down.

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

" The students should be there to learn. "

One of the important things to learn at a legitimate school is to avoid association with racists (it's the converse at conservative-controlled campuses).

And with misogynists.

And with old-timey gay-bashers.

And with xenophobes.

Clingers hardest hit.

[Dilan Esper]

One of the important things to learn at a legitimate school is to avoid association with racists

I have a couple of things to say about this:

1. I don't think it's morally pure to refuse to "associate" with people with bad views. Many people have family members with bad views. Should they all disown their families? What does that accomplish?

Indeed, what does it accomplish (other than feeding egotistical and selfish conceptions of moral purity) to refuse to associate with people who disagree with you? The moral position is to engage with them. You are just dead wrong and asserting an "I am the only thing that matters" position.

2. There's been so much concept creep on "racism" anyway. If you were saying "don't associate with people in the Klan" or something, sure I get that position. But a large percentage of the people being labeled "racists" on college campus are not racist- even if a few of them have done racist things.

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

" I doubt there are any "established racist" students at Yale Law School, "

Do you also doubt there are any gay-bashing bigots among Yale students?

That there are any old-timey misogynists among Yale students?

That there are immigrant-hating xenophobes at Yale?

Or it is solely racism with respect to which the Yale student body is pure as the White, driven snow?

[Dilan Esper]

The funny thing is all those groups you mention, make hasty generalizations about people they don't like.

And you are doing that very thing in your comment.

[David Nieporent]

No; presumably they come by it honestly, whereas Kirkland is just trolling.

[Scott Fruehwald]

Exactly!

[Bob from Ohio]

"that they are there to learn?"

Its Yale Law, they are there to graduate. As long as they do, they are assured of good paying jobs right out of school.

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

No wonder you envy them so.

(another reel big catch -- a crowd favorite for my band)

[Queen Amalthea]

What's this, the 12th post on this nothingburger? One belated post on the UF system muzzling their profs. Conservative media bubble.

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

Clingers gonna cling.

[Michael D]

It is only “nothing” to defenders of bad policies at a law school that tends to produce some of the more influential people in the country.

[y81]

Yale is at least 12 times as important as TTT institutions like UF.

[Bob from Ohio]

"What's this, the 12th post on this nothingburger? "

Ask for a refund if you are unhappy with your subscription.

[DaivdBehar]

Nothingburger? Yale must be de-exempted, defunded and shut down. It is a highly toxic treason indoctrination camp. All its alumni serving in government have been nothing but destructive to the nation. They appear to all be dimwits, devoid of any common sense.

[Scott Fruehwald]

What do you expect when you hire diversity officers? They have to find racism to justify their existence.

Wouldn't it be better to use the money now devoted to diversity officers to improve law school education? Have smaller classes. Educate professors in the latest teaching techniques. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2322486 Hire more academic support staff. Have more clinics. Send professors tp legal education conferences.

[George Grady]

Yale has 4,664 undergraduate students and 7,357 graduate and professional students to go with its 4,962 faculty and 10,442 staff members. (Source: https://www.yale.edu/about-yale/yale-facts ) That many staff members have to spend their days doing *something*, after all.

[Jerry B.]

So, pretty much every student’s tuition pays for a staffer and a third.

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

If one there were ways to judge whether Yale University's approach to operating an education institution works . . .