Law School Silent After Activist Past

When third-year law student Anne L. Oakes arrived at Harvard in the fall of 1991, she found the school "very exciting, very alive and very frightening."

In Oakes' first year, protests over faculty diversity were tearing the Law School apart. Students occupied administrative offices and marched and administrative offices and marched and demonstrated to add minority and female professors to the Law School's faculty.

Today the situation is somewhat different, she says, and the Law School is both tense and less exciting.

"It's dead," she says. "There just isn't the same kind of fire in the belly as there was earlier."

Members of minority student groups say their present peace is not surrender. Instead, it is simply a shift in strategy to a more cooperative effort to implement change, they say.

And while Law School students offer varied explanations for the quiet, many say it is not necessarily a permanent one. The present calm could be nothing more than the lull before a renewed storm of activism, they say.

Oakes is not the only one who has noted a change in the school once called the "Beirut on the Charles" by GQ. There have been on rallies for civilrights, no sit-ins, no fliers and nodemonstrations this year.

In fact, perhaps the most heated activism theLaw School has seen recently came from the studentMonster Truck Coalition, which lobbied for beer atLaw School Council meetings and a truck really inthe Square.

"When I was a first-year, tensions were veryhigh, and the campus was divided," Law SchoolCouncil President Enu Mainigi says. "There is aplateau. Activists are quiet right now."

But students say their quiet does not mean theyare satisfied with the present makeup of the LawSchool faculty.

"Diversity is still a very major issue," saysthird year X. Carlos Vasquez, co-chair of Lamda,the Law School's gay, lesbian and bisexualstudents association.

And it is an issue that will not go away,students say.

"Diversity is always an issue in the minds ofLaw School students--a desire for more diversecourse offerings and more diverse faculty, "saysDoug H. Driemeier. supervising editor of theHarvard Law Review.

But if the need for diversity is no less, andstudent commitment has not wavered, why is theformer "Beirut" looking more like Des Moines?

Students offer a number of explanations for theceasefire. The first is simply exhaustion: awar-weary campus now wants a little peace andquiet after years of strife.

"Today's [more quiet] approach is a reactionagainst the level of hostility of the past," saysInga S. Bernstein, co-chair of the Coalition forCivil Rights. "That whole type of agitation wastoo painful for students and faculty. So we aretrying to find ways to advance the dialoguewithout reaching that level of tension."

After the stresses of the 1991-92 activism,even student leaders are ready to try a morelow-key approach, students say.

"That spring [of the sit-ins in Law Schooloffices] was emotionally draining," says thirdstudent Wendy Patten, co-editor-in-chief of theHuman Rights Journal.

Patten, who was involved in the agitations ofthat spring, says that "people are now looking formore constructive ways than communication bypaper: posters, daily fliers in the mail and soon."

Another explanation students offer for thepresent Law School peace is good, old-fashionedpublic relations work. Dean of the Law SchoolRobert C. Clark has done successful spin control,they say, even while substantive change is stilllacking.

Clark is quick to defend himself and says he ismaking concrete efforts to diversify the faculty.There is a larger pool of women and minorities todraw from at the non-tenured assistantprofessorship level he says.

"I think we're doing a lot of good andpromising things this year," says Clark.

"This is a very sensitive time in the processand we have had an unusual volume of activity,"says Clark "We have interviewed. and heardpresentations for a number of juniorappointments."

The candidates include both women andminorities, he says.

Clark says that he cannot guarantee the finaloutcome of the current faculty appointment processbut he is optimistic about the talks.

"The prospects are encouraging at this moment,"he says, adding that he is talking to a number ofwomen and minorities for visiting positions.

"The most dramatic input for us has been in theteaching evaluations from students," says Clark,stressing that his discussions with variousstudent groups "are on occasion very helpful."

Clark also points to progress already made inthe junior faculty ranks.

Tax expert Diane Ring will arrive this fallform private practice in Washington, D.C., in anon-tenured faculty post. In addition, there aretwo non-tenured offers out to women, says Clark.

Clark says the Law School will also continue tobring female and minority visiting professors tocampus: he is wooing five women and three minorityfaculty members to visit next year.

But rig now the Law School's 65 professorsstill include only six women and five minorityfaculty members, according to Law Schoolspokesperson Michael Chmura.

And many students feel despite Clark'sfriendliness, those unbalanced numbers are thereal issue.

"I don't think [Clark] is trying substantivelyto improve the situation, though he has made aconcerted effort to reshape his image," LambdaCo-Chair R. Bradley Sears says. "He is the masterof impostering to quell dissatisfaction."

For instance, Clark held a reception this yearfor students and has met with a number of studentgroups to "diffuse discontentment," Sears says.

"Dean Clark has adopted a more moderate andconciliatory stance to show he is a nice guy,"first-year student David Friedman says. "Mostfirst-years like him."

The first-years' affection for Clark is perhapsevidence of another factor in the Law School'sapparent apathy: the constant turnover of thestudent body. The third-years who led the proteststwo years ago have graduated, and their successorshave lost some of the original urgency, studentssay.

"There isn't much institutional memory at theLaw School," says Asian American Law StudentAssociation (AALSA) President W. Ming Shau. Heattributes some of today's peaceful atmosphere tothis lack of memory.

"The year I came here was the year thediversity movement peaked...and once they [thoseinvolved in the sit-ins] graduated, the momentumof the movement was lost," Shau says.

The job pressures caused by a nationwide glutof lawyers and a still-recovering economy areanother reason that students might avoid theactivist path, students say.

"The job market today is very tight, and thatis student's first concern," second-year JimEastman says.

And some students say that at Harvard,careerist students are pushed mostly towardcorporate law, a field interested more in topgrades and business experience than in activism.

"This place is a mill turning out corporatelawyers...people tell me they can't live in L.A.on less then $60,000 a year," third-year Andrew S.Levin says.

"Structurally, the institution is set up forcorporate law," first-year David S. Kaplan says.

"It's easier to find a job in the corporatemarket because corporations have a lot of moneyand time to cater to students," he says.

The student concern with the corporate worldrepresents a shift in the type of student enteringthe Law School today, Oakes says.

Today's students are more interested in tax,international banking, securities and corporatelaw, than in public policy or in "law as a formof change," she says.

"I don't care about Islamic Banking Law orJapanese Business Dispute Resolution," Oakes says,referring to two courses offered at the LawSchool.

"You have to have interested students fordebate and for change, and in that respect thisplace is pretty much of a factory. The focus moststudents have today is money," she says.

But student group leaders say that under thesurface calm, activism for a more diverse facultycontinues.

"The rallies and sit-ins had a different kindof effectiveness...but we have to tailor ourefforts to the time," Black Law StudentsAssociation (BLSA) President Linda S. Dunn says."We realize that change is slow and incremental."

Instead of sitting-in at administrators'offices, student leaders are today seekingfriendly dialogue with those same administrators.

The Hispanic Law Students Association, AALSA,Lambda and the BLSA all have ongoing discussionswith faculty members and Clark.

The groups have presented lists of eligibleminority professors to chairs of Law Schoolfaculty selection committees and to Clark.

"Concerning all minority diversity gay andlesbian issues, [Clark] is comfortable andsupportive and is willing to speak with us, as hedid about the [Chairman of the Joint Chiefs ofStaff Gen.] Colin Powell protest," Sears says.

"While some minority appointments have beenmade recently, we are still to see anAsian-American faculty appointment," says Shau."That is something we would really like to seehappen."

Many students say the new, quieter methods arebetter and more effective means of implementingchange.

"Tension doesn't really help things," sayssecond year student Jessica R. Herrera, who isrunning for the Law School Council presidency."The memory of past problems is still present andpeople are reluctant to initiate more problems."

Not all students supported the old activismwhen it was going on, and many do not miss thedisruptions.

Second year student Michael G. DeSombre sayspeople have "noticed the quiet" and are relieved.

"If you objected to the activists on anygrounds, it was condemned because of politicalcorrectness pressure," says DeSombre. There was a"lack of respect for authority" on the part ofsome protestors which was not completelyjustified, he says.

And other students say that while they weresympathetic to the protestors, they could see theadministration's side of the issue as well.

The students aren't the only ones withlegitimate reasons behind their actions,International Law Society President BenjaminRozwood says.

"Students see faculty diversity as the end goalwhile the faculty and the administration have tomaintain strict academic standards in theirselection." he says. "I think the different pacesbetween these two are the cause of the tension."

But other students defend the earlier activismand say that its time may come again.

"That agitation served a very important purposein stimulating the movement," says Bernstein.

And the present peace is not due to a lack ofstudent commitment to diversity, she says. Infact, the lack of external conflict represents "amuch greater internalized stress," Bernstein says.

"There are students here at the Law Schooltoday who are willing to be noisy and would takepart in civil disobedience, if need be," she says.The "type of student involved in the high-levelagitation" and committed to the cause is stillvery much present at the Law School, she says.

Students say they really can't predict when andif the peace will end. But if the past history ofthe Law School is any guide, it can't lastforever.

"Perhaps it's like a cycle and tension may riseagain later," Herrera says.

Is the current situation merely a lull betweenstorms?

"It could be," says Bernstein, "I don't know.But I don't think people want a storm."PhotoAlozie F. Nwosu

In fact, perhaps the most heated activism theLaw School has seen recently came from the studentMonster Truck Coalition, which lobbied for beer atLaw School Council meetings and a truck really inthe Square.

"When I was a first-year, tensions were veryhigh, and the campus was divided," Law SchoolCouncil President Enu Mainigi says. "There is aplateau. Activists are quiet right now."

But students say their quiet does not mean theyare satisfied with the present makeup of the LawSchool faculty.

"Diversity is still a very major issue," saysthird year X. Carlos Vasquez, co-chair of Lamda,the Law School's gay, lesbian and bisexualstudents association.

And it is an issue that will not go away,students say.

"Diversity is always an issue in the minds ofLaw School students--a desire for more diversecourse offerings and more diverse faculty, "saysDoug H. Driemeier. supervising editor of theHarvard Law Review.

But if the need for diversity is no less, andstudent commitment has not wavered, why is theformer "Beirut" looking more like Des Moines?

Students offer a number of explanations for theceasefire. The first is simply exhaustion: awar-weary campus now wants a little peace andquiet after years of strife.

"Today's [more quiet] approach is a reactionagainst the level of hostility of the past," saysInga S. Bernstein, co-chair of the Coalition forCivil Rights. "That whole type of agitation wastoo painful for students and faculty. So we aretrying to find ways to advance the dialoguewithout reaching that level of tension."

After the stresses of the 1991-92 activism,even student leaders are ready to try a morelow-key approach, students say.

"That spring [of the sit-ins in Law Schooloffices] was emotionally draining," says thirdstudent Wendy Patten, co-editor-in-chief of theHuman Rights Journal.

Patten, who was involved in the agitations ofthat spring, says that "people are now looking formore constructive ways than communication bypaper: posters, daily fliers in the mail and soon."

Another explanation students offer for thepresent Law School peace is good, old-fashionedpublic relations work. Dean of the Law SchoolRobert C. Clark has done successful spin control,they say, even while substantive change is stilllacking.

Clark is quick to defend himself and says he ismaking concrete efforts to diversify the faculty.There is a larger pool of women and minorities todraw from at the non-tenured assistantprofessorship level he says.

"I think we're doing a lot of good andpromising things this year," says Clark.

"This is a very sensitive time in the processand we have had an unusual volume of activity,"says Clark "We have interviewed. and heardpresentations for a number of juniorappointments."

The candidates include both women andminorities, he says.

Clark says that he cannot guarantee the finaloutcome of the current faculty appointment processbut he is optimistic about the talks.

"The prospects are encouraging at this moment,"he says, adding that he is talking to a number ofwomen and minorities for visiting positions.

"The most dramatic input for us has been in theteaching evaluations from students," says Clark,stressing that his discussions with variousstudent groups "are on occasion very helpful."

Clark also points to progress already made inthe junior faculty ranks.

Tax expert Diane Ring will arrive this fallform private practice in Washington, D.C., in anon-tenured faculty post. In addition, there aretwo non-tenured offers out to women, says Clark.

Clark says the Law School will also continue tobring female and minority visiting professors tocampus: he is wooing five women and three minorityfaculty members to visit next year.

But rig now the Law School's 65 professorsstill include only six women and five minorityfaculty members, according to Law Schoolspokesperson Michael Chmura.

And many students feel despite Clark'sfriendliness, those unbalanced numbers are thereal issue.

"I don't think [Clark] is trying substantivelyto improve the situation, though he has made aconcerted effort to reshape his image," LambdaCo-Chair R. Bradley Sears says. "He is the masterof impostering to quell dissatisfaction."

For instance, Clark held a reception this yearfor students and has met with a number of studentgroups to "diffuse discontentment," Sears says.

"Dean Clark has adopted a more moderate andconciliatory stance to show he is a nice guy,"first-year student David Friedman says. "Mostfirst-years like him."

The first-years' affection for Clark is perhapsevidence of another factor in the Law School'sapparent apathy: the constant turnover of thestudent body. The third-years who led the proteststwo years ago have graduated, and their successorshave lost some of the original urgency, studentssay.

"There isn't much institutional memory at theLaw School," says Asian American Law StudentAssociation (AALSA) President W. Ming Shau. Heattributes some of today's peaceful atmosphere tothis lack of memory.

"The year I came here was the year thediversity movement peaked...and once they [thoseinvolved in the sit-ins] graduated, the momentumof the movement was lost," Shau says.

The job pressures caused by a nationwide glutof lawyers and a still-recovering economy areanother reason that students might avoid theactivist path, students say.

"The job market today is very tight, and thatis student's first concern," second-year JimEastman says.

And some students say that at Harvard,careerist students are pushed mostly towardcorporate law, a field interested more in topgrades and business experience than in activism.

"This place is a mill turning out corporatelawyers...people tell me they can't live in L.A.on less then $60,000 a year," third-year Andrew S.Levin says.

"Structurally, the institution is set up forcorporate law," first-year David S. Kaplan says.

"It's easier to find a job in the corporatemarket because corporations have a lot of moneyand time to cater to students," he says.

The student concern with the corporate worldrepresents a shift in the type of student enteringthe Law School today, Oakes says.

Today's students are more interested in tax,international banking, securities and corporatelaw, than in public policy or in "law as a formof change," she says.

"I don't care about Islamic Banking Law orJapanese Business Dispute Resolution," Oakes says,referring to two courses offered at the LawSchool.

"You have to have interested students fordebate and for change, and in that respect thisplace is pretty much of a factory. The focus moststudents have today is money," she says.

But student group leaders say that under thesurface calm, activism for a more diverse facultycontinues.

"The rallies and sit-ins had a different kindof effectiveness...but we have to tailor ourefforts to the time," Black Law StudentsAssociation (BLSA) President Linda S. Dunn says."We realize that change is slow and incremental."

Instead of sitting-in at administrators'offices, student leaders are today seekingfriendly dialogue with those same administrators.

The Hispanic Law Students Association, AALSA,Lambda and the BLSA all have ongoing discussionswith faculty members and Clark.

The groups have presented lists of eligibleminority professors to chairs of Law Schoolfaculty selection committees and to Clark.

"Concerning all minority diversity gay andlesbian issues, [Clark] is comfortable andsupportive and is willing to speak with us, as hedid about the [Chairman of the Joint Chiefs ofStaff Gen.] Colin Powell protest," Sears says.

"While some minority appointments have beenmade recently, we are still to see anAsian-American faculty appointment," says Shau."That is something we would really like to seehappen."

Many students say the new, quieter methods arebetter and more effective means of implementingchange.

"Tension doesn't really help things," sayssecond year student Jessica R. Herrera, who isrunning for the Law School Council presidency."The memory of past problems is still present andpeople are reluctant to initiate more problems."

Not all students supported the old activismwhen it was going on, and many do not miss thedisruptions.

Second year student Michael G. DeSombre sayspeople have "noticed the quiet" and are relieved.

"If you objected to the activists on anygrounds, it was condemned because of politicalcorrectness pressure," says DeSombre. There was a"lack of respect for authority" on the part ofsome protestors which was not completelyjustified, he says.

And other students say that while they weresympathetic to the protestors, they could see theadministration's side of the issue as well.

The students aren't the only ones withlegitimate reasons behind their actions,International Law Society President BenjaminRozwood says.

"Students see faculty diversity as the end goalwhile the faculty and the administration have tomaintain strict academic standards in theirselection." he says. "I think the different pacesbetween these two are the cause of the tension."

But other students defend the earlier activismand say that its time may come again.

"That agitation served a very important purposein stimulating the movement," says Bernstein.

And the present peace is not due to a lack ofstudent commitment to diversity, she says. Infact, the lack of external conflict represents "amuch greater internalized stress," Bernstein says.

"There are students here at the Law Schooltoday who are willing to be noisy and would takepart in civil disobedience, if need be," she says.The "type of student involved in the high-levelagitation" and committed to the cause is stillvery much present at the Law School, she says.

Students say they really can't predict when andif the peace will end. But if the past history ofthe Law School is any guide, it can't lastforever.

"Perhaps it's like a cycle and tension may riseagain later," Herrera says.

Is the current situation merely a lull betweenstorms?

"It could be," says Bernstein, "I don't know.But I don't think people want a storm."PhotoAlozie F. Nwosu