Review to Consider New Minority Plan

A Law Review committee has recommended an affirmative action plan that elects some editors to the prestigious law journal partly on the basis of "economic, societal, or educational obstacles" they have overcome or "special contributions" they can make to the Law Review's diversity.

The Review would evaluate these factors by reading statements from candidates' Law School applications and supplements to these statements.

Staff memebers would also consider factors now used in selecting editors, such as grades and writing ability, in choosing candidates who submitted such statements, Mark B. Helms '78, president of the Law Review, said yesterday.

The plan would also allow prospective members to submit "notes," articles for the Law Review, on subjects the Review would otherwise have missed, Helms said. If their notes were published, candidates would be elected to membership. The Yale Law Review currently selects members solely on the basis of notes.

Writing or Grades

Currently, editors are selected on the basis of either a writing competition during the fall of their second year or their grades during their first year of law school.

The Law Review committee recommended the current plan by a 6-4 vote last Friday. One Law Review editor said several of the committee members who voted against the plan were "strongly opposed to it."

The Law Review staff will vote on the committee's plan Wednesday.

Last spring the Law Review staff voted to delay a decision on an affirmative action plan after the Law School faculty had raised objections to two previous Review-supported plans.

The Review committee responsible for the plan met with the Law School faculty committee on affirmative action last night.

Michael R. Doyen, a member of the Review committee, said the faculty committee gave the plan "mixed reviews." He added the faculty committee was particularly concerned about the Review's receiving information from the Law School admissions office. "People are split on this the same way as in the past," Doyen said.

Detley F. Vagts '49, chairman of the faculty committee, was not available for comment yesterday.

Another Choice

Howell Jackson, a Law Review editor and member of the committee, has proposed an alternate affirmative action plan, under which the Review could choose members on the basis of any of the factors in the majority proposal except the student's amission statement.

Faculty, alumni and students, whom the committee consulted seemed to favor "a race-neutral plan," such as his, Jackson said yesterday. He added that "having a race-conscious plan is a drastic step."

Doyen stressed that the final decision on staff selection rests with the Review, saying, "There is no formal mechanism for faculty control. The Review is an autonomous organization."