Dean Harold Koh Launches a Charm Offensive
We received an interesting tip last week from a Yale Law School source:
I thought you might be interested in this email, which just went out to the Yale Federalist Society email list. It seems you may have struck some fear into Harold Koh with your recent coverage of his ideological tendencies.
Here's the email (which we were asked not to publish until after the meeting in question had taken place):
From: Eugene Nardelli, Jr.
Date: Dec 13, 2006 4:52 PM
Subject: Fed Soc: Lunch With Dean Koh
To: [Yale Federalist Society mailing list]Federalists,
This Tuesday, the 19th, Dean Koh will be hosting lunch with some of our members. Lunch will take place from 12:30 to 1:30 or so in the Dean's office. Dean Koh has called this meeting for the the specific purpose of giving an opportunity for students to voice their concerns, if any, about the way the school and the Dean treat conservative voices of students, guests, and alumni.
We welcome you to join us and share your thoughts with the Dean, however, the office is small and can only seat a limited number of students. Please email me if you would like to attend.
Eugene
[President of the Yale Federalist Society*]
Our tipster added:
I imagine most people will have left New Haven for break by lunchtime next Tuesday... It makes one wonder about Koh's sincerity (if there wasn't already enough reason to wonder).
Fair enough. But we're willing to give Dean Koh the benefit of the doubt. His hosting of a luncheon with the Yale Fed Soc is welcome news. If you were at the meeting and can give us a report on what transpired, we'd love to hear from you.
And here's a postscript from New Haven:
Hadley Arkes** came to YLS last week to give a lecture sponsored by the newly-formed Yale Law Students for Life group. Koh stopped by the reception beforehand -- something he has never in the past done for a conservative speaker invited by FedSoc or similar -- and chatted with Prof. Arkes. So apparently he's making more of an effort to reach out to conservatives these days.
Again, we're pleased to learn of Harold Koh's recent outreach to right-of-center folks (and we hope that it continues into the new year). Efforts by a law school dean to develop an academic environment that welcomes different points of view are all for the good.
* We're guessing that Eugene Nardelli Sr. would be the New York State appellate judge, Eugene L. Nardelli.
** You may recall Professor Arkes from his participation in this wacky panel discussion.
Earlier: Attention, Concerned Alumni of Yale: Justice Alito Gets (Green)housed
Harold and Linda, Sittin' in a Tree...
An Addendum on Nino in New Haven
Comments
Dean Kagan >>>>> Dean Koh
Posted by: Yale Sucks | December 22, 2006 03:02 PM
The tipster who sent in information about the Federalist Society luncheon has a delusional sense of this blog's importance if he believes that Dean Koh gives any credence to the one-dimensional right-loving "coverage" of an internet tabloid. Popular as Above the Law may be, it can't take credit for a liberal dean's decision to make Yale Law as warm and open-minded a community as possible.
Posted by: Reader | December 24, 2006 10:18 PM
Maybe Lee Bollinger will take a hint from this. It's nice to know that the top legal academic institution in the world has decided to back away from Thought Policing for five minutes.
What I have always hated about Ivy League institutions is the unwelcoming attitude towards right-leaning thinkers--not because I agree with right-leaning thought, but because it's incredibly unfair to people who weren't raised by rich liberal East Coast parents.
If you are 18, smart as hell, and raised by, say, Catholic or Baptist parents, working class parents, or perhaps Midwestern/Southern parents, chances are you're going to come to these places with a right-leaning world view. I will never forget showing up at college as a kid and feeling like I was some kind of provincial idiot for not being pro-choice, for being religious, etc. Sure, I "came around" to a more secular liberal "politically correct" position after a few years, but I still get angry when I think of how unwelcoming my school was to my perspective and the nasty comments I heard about Catholics. Hostility to those not raised indoctrinated with the "correct" attitude toward politics is elitist and shitty.
It's classism, plain and simple. When Koh or Bollinger, or any other academic, doesn't make room for differences in thought, they will simply end up alienating smart people from their schools.
Posted by: Thought Police | December 27, 2006 11:07 AM
Props to Koh for trying. I didn't go to the meeting (though I was still in New Haven), but at least he had the class to face the issue frankly.
Posted by: Yale Federalist | December 27, 2006 02:51 PM