Self-described “lawyer turned writer” — and Yale Law alumnus — David Lat is disheartened and disturbed by his alma mater’s absurd handling of bogus claims of “racism” against part-Cherokee conservative student Trent Colbert.
The Washington Free Beacon’s Aaron Sibarium has been documenting the whole infuriating situation, and following Sibarium’s most recent revelations, Lat — who describes himself as “no longer a conservative or a libertarian” — weighed in with his own unique insight.
Thread https://t.co/QAvZ8b7AwZ
— Matthew Continetti (@continetti) October 19, 2021
You’ll definitely want to read this one:
1/ THREAD. @AaronSibarium of the @FreeBeacon, who last week broke the story of the Yale Law School email controversy, has this must-read follow-up about how the YLS community is responding.https://t.co/4E3WGAkx8N
— David Lat (@DavidLat) October 19, 2021
2/ Two Yale Law School professors expressed displeasure with the initial statement released by YLS.
One of them is renowned corporate law scholar Roberta Romano (who Yale Law students and alums know is a badass—and I mean that as high praise): pic.twitter.com/tnHoJZSppE
— David Lat (@DavidLat) October 19, 2021
3/ I tweeted some positive things yesterday about Marina Edwards's message, which seemed to sound some conciliatory notes.
Please see the new additions to the thread below. I've retracted those earlier comments of mine.https://t.co/7J9g5Xb8BL
— David Lat (@DavidLat) October 19, 2021
4/ The two student-group messages that followed Edwards's message, included in @aaronsibarium's latest article, suggest that the offended students, rather than entering into a new, more constructive phase, are doubling down and digging in.
— David Lat (@DavidLat) October 19, 2021
5/ Over the years, many admitted students have asked me for advice about where to matriculate for law school.
When Yale Law was on the table, I almost always said "go to Yale"—as a loyal YLS alum, but also because I genuinely believed it.
— David Lat (@DavidLat) October 19, 2021
6/ I still believe Yale Law is a great institution.
Those of us who have expressed concerns in recent days about recent events at YLS want it to be the best version of itself.
We believe things can get better. We wouldn't bother speaking out otherwise.
— David Lat (@DavidLat) October 19, 2021
7/ But if a conservative or libertarian law student asked me if they should go to Yale Law today—over some other top law school, especially one giving them scholarship money—I would have to think long and hard about my answer.
— David Lat (@DavidLat) October 19, 2021
8/ I fear that the intellectual environment at Yale Law School right now is extremely hostile to conservatives.
Again, just read the student-group messages in @aaronsibarium's article.
— David Lat (@DavidLat) October 19, 2021
9/ And, at least if recent events are any indication, administrators at Yale Law School—or at least the two involved in the attempted reeducation of Trent Colbert—are not being honest brokers. Instead, they take sides.
— David Lat (@DavidLat) October 19, 2021
10/ Dean Heather Gerken is far better than the two administrators who dealt with Trent Colbert. I've had only positive interactions with her. She has always been willing to listen and have a dialogue.
But I have a quibble with her message from today: pic.twitter.com/b78pGV2bxE
— David Lat (@DavidLat) October 19, 2021
11/ The message Dean Gerken should have sent at this fraught time should have been scrupulously neutral—above suspicion, like Caesar's wife (can I still say that these days?).
But paragraph 3 reads like a passive-aggressive dig at critics: pic.twitter.com/pJeSoLphcR
— David Lat (@DavidLat) October 19, 2021
It reads like a passive-aggressive dig at critics because that’s exactly what it is.
12/ Go back to the third paragraph. Imagine how much better it would have read WITHOUT that second sentence (beginning "I will not").
Read it again, without that sentence. That would have been the neutral message we needed from Dean Gerken at this time. pic.twitter.com/ox7lQ2Xzon
— David Lat (@DavidLat) October 19, 2021
Worth noting:
13/ One thing I should mention again about myself.
As I said in the post below, "My own views have drifted leftward over the years, so I'm not sure I would still consider myself a conservative or a libertarian."https://t.co/kppHyNllQJ
— David Lat (@DavidLat) October 19, 2021
14/ So my concern for free speech doesn't flow from a desire to help my own political team, since I'm no longer a conservative or a libertarian, and I'm certainly not a Republican.
But I don't think such folks are evil or should be shouted down.
— David Lat (@DavidLat) October 19, 2021
15/ I should add that I also don't think the offended students are evil either.
I might disagree with them vehemently, but I don't think they're evil. Nor would I deny them the right to state their views.
— David Lat (@DavidLat) October 19, 2021
16/ I don't know where this will all lead. I hope it will lead to a better place.
But I now fear, contrary to my more optimistic assessment from yesterday, that student tension & the climate for free speech at Yale Law will get worse before they get better.
— David Lat (@DavidLat) October 19, 2021
Given the way academia has been going, Lat’s fear is likely to be realized.
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