OK, this is hilarious. Well, it would be, if these weren't the next generation of lawyers entering the justice system.
The other night, Hamas-sympathizing protesters at Columbia "seized" Hamilton Hall and barricaded themselves in. This is what led to that ridiculous presser where a PhD candidate in Marxist poetry begged for food and water for the protesters so they could continue to occupy the hall. After Columbia administrators stated that they would NOT be calling the NYPD again, police showed up and arrested everyone inside.
The real police assault was at UCLA, and it was spectacular, but this incident has left the student editors of the Columbia Law Review "irrevocably shaken" and led them to "urge the Law School to cancel exams and give all students passing grades for their work throughout the semester."
"Our response is not disproportionate to the outsized impact it has had on many of us in the community — a crowd of people that proudly represent their membership in a white supremacist, neo-fascist hate group were storming our campus just days ago," they conclude.
At the very least, the law students call for mandatory pass/fail "during this horrific time for our campus."
NEW: The student editors of the Columbia Law Review have issued a statement urging the law school to cancel exams in the wake of the police operation that cleared the university's encampment, saying the "violence" has left them "irrevocably shaken" and "unable to focus."🧵 pic.twitter.com/BOD87x5mwM
— Aaron Sibarium (@aaronsibarium) May 2, 2024
Signed by 5 other law journals, including "A Jailhouse Lawyer’s Manual," the statement accused police of "brutalizing" students—though no major injuries have been reported—and claimed canceling exams was a "proportionate response" to the "distress our peers have been feeling." pic.twitter.com/rdojzidSeA
— Aaron Sibarium (@aaronsibarium) May 2, 2024
"The current exam policy raises concerns around equity and academic integrity," the statement said. "Many are unwell at this time and cannot study or concentrate while their peers are being hauled to jail." pic.twitter.com/tz46Ht7RI2
— Aaron Sibarium (@aaronsibarium) May 2, 2024
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The statement also accuses members of a "white supremacist, neo-fascist hate group" of "storming" campus—an apparent reference to a pro-Israel rally organized by Christian Zionists who gathered outside of Columbia’s gates on April 25 for hymns and prayer. pic.twitter.com/Ch8D3nFS1P
— Aaron Sibarium (@aaronsibarium) May 2, 2024
You have to get "white supremacist" and "fascist" in there or it doesn't count.
"We do not think it is inconsistent with being a leading voice in legal academia and legal scholarship to prioritize students’ health and safety," the statement said.
— Aaron Sibarium (@aaronsibarium) May 2, 2024
Columbia Law School told the Free Beacon it had no plans to cancel exams.
The law review’s editor in chief is Alexandria Iraheta Sousa, a second-year law student who has worked for numerous progressive nonprofits, including a dark money group, Demand Justice, that advocates court packing. She did not respond to a request for comment.
— Aaron Sibarium (@aaronsibarium) May 2, 2024
The law school already postponed exams scheduled for May 1—the day after protesters smashed the windows of Hamilton Hall and barricaded it from the inside, leading to a confrontation with a janitor who said he was held hostage—and has made all of them virtual amid the unrest.
— Aaron Sibarium (@aaronsibarium) May 2, 2024
Though the protesters are facing a range of criminal offenses, including burglary and trespassing, legal experts say they are unlikely to face jail time. And the school has only promised to expel the ones occupied Hamilton Hall—the rest are getting off with a suspension.
— Aaron Sibarium (@aaronsibarium) May 2, 2024
The crackdown has nonetheless shaken students on the top-ranked law journal, whose latest masthead includes four "diversity, equity, and inclusion" editors.
— Aaron Sibarium (@aaronsibarium) May 2, 2024
"The events of last night left us, and many of our peers, unable to focus and highly emotional during this tumultuous time," the Wednesday statement said.
— Aaron Sibarium (@aaronsibarium) May 2, 2024
"This only follows the growing distress that many of us have felt for months as the humanitarian crisis abroad continues to unfold, and as the blatant antisemitism, islamophobia, and racism on campus have escalated."
— Aaron Sibarium (@aaronsibarium) May 2, 2024
That distress, the statement continued, "is not disproportionate to the outsized impact" these ills have had "on many of us in the community."
— Aaron Sibarium (@aaronsibarium) May 2, 2024
If the law school won’t cancel exams, the editors say it should at least make all courses pass/fail—a move that would make it impossible to differentiate between those who ace their tests and those who barely pass them.
— Aaron Sibarium (@aaronsibarium) May 2, 2024
"Instituting an optional Pass/Fail policy is not really optional when employers will see that some students have grades and others do not," the statement argues. "[T]his leaves room for the introduction of extreme bias into the hiring process."
— Aaron Sibarium (@aaronsibarium) May 2, 2024
Oh, consequences. These woke activist law students weren't even there when the police were making arrests, but they're so shaken by their peers being hauled away by the cops that they think they should all be given passing grades.
Maybe the organizers of all of these campus protests should have thought twice about scheduling their protests during exam week all the way back in November when they started this. Let's have our nationwide protest during final exams and right before graduation.
Is this real? It reads like intentionally incoherent parody.
— Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) May 2, 2024
If they were upset about being mocked, releasing this statement was a poor choice.
— Hey Y'all (@LadyTexicann) May 2, 2024
How would these individuals handle the rigors of private law practice? The major firms need to be highly selective in recruiting at such schools, which are no longer useful filters. There are high performing students at "lesser" schools who are better employment bets.
— Roger D Klein, MD JD (@RogerDKlein) May 2, 2024
I hire lots of young attorneys. None will be from Columbia.
— Eioan (@dcxlr8) May 2, 2024
Yeah, that's the kind of lawyer I want, one who falls apart if something bad happens in the world.
— Coffee and Chocolate Games (@RealCoffeeChoco) May 2, 2024
Irrevocably? They’re permanently shaken? They’ll never recover from these very mild consequences?
— Jason Bedrick 🇺🇸🎗️🇮🇱 (@JasonBedrick) May 2, 2024
Kids will do anything to get out of finals.
— HannaKat (@swiftyloo) May 2, 2024
Snowflakes. Unemployable snowflakes.
— Richard H. Ebright (@R_H_Ebright) May 2, 2024
Infantile.
— Robert T. Ives (@Justalurke) May 2, 2024
Give us all passing grades because we all have PTSD over the police arresting agitators who were occupying a building. "Videos have circulated of police clad in riot gear mocking and brutalizing our students," they write. They're so triggered by the videos of other students getting arrested that they can't possibly sit for exams.
Agreed, no one should hire any graduate from Columbia Law School. They can't handle day-to-day life.
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