How Other Schools Do It

The California Law Review (University of California at Berkeley): All editors are chosen in a writing competition, and an affirmative action program has been underway since the early 1970s, according to editor-in-chief Terry Lippert. The editors decide the number of new members the need to put the magazine out before they start; they then screen the writing comp to eliminate those students who don't meet a minimum standard. The editors pick the number of new editors they decided upon from the top scorers in the comp, and then examine this group. If it does not meet the same percentage goals for minority groups as the law school's own affirmative action plan, then the review chooses more minority editors from the students who passed the initial screening until it has achieved the desired balance. The numbers and results of this process are kept confidential; only the names of the new editors are released. Women are not included in the plan. The review currently has about six or seven minority members, Lippert says. "We're a little amused that it's stirred up so much controversy at Harvard, since it's been such a fundamental part of our procedure for so long," she adds.

Columbia Law Review (Columbia University), Columbia mixes a writing competition and grade selection, says editor-in-chief Daniel Leffell. A certain number of the top writing comp scorers make the review regardless of their grades and the rest of the editors are selected on both grades and writing comp results, weighted 70/30. Individuals are not told how they made the review. "There's been a fair amount of lamenting the low proportion of applications from minorities and women. The 30 third-year editors at Columbia include 10 women but no minorities; the 34 second-year editors include five women and two Hispanic students. "The suggestion for affirmative action hasn't really come up here--I'd like to focus instead on getting more applications from minorities and women," says Leffell.

Yale Law Journal (Yale University): Since 1970, anyone who submits a publishable note to the journal has become an editor. "There's a good deal of concern among officers and members about getting women and minorities to write notes," says editor-in-chief John Campbell. Current editors work with students to give them advice and edit their notes. Of Harvard's system, Campbell says. "They put themselves in a difficult position when they select on the basis of grades. I don't see grades as a proxy for good editorial skills."

New York University Law Review (New York University): The selection process at NYU is undergoing a "transition," according to outgoing editor-in-chief Nancy Morawetz. In the most recent class, about ten editors selected solely on writing comp performance, about 15 solely on grades, and about 15 weighting both equally. NYU has also just instituted a "publishable note program" similar to the Yale system. But Morawetz says that because NYU is a larger school than Yale, students will be expected to the initiative receiving less assistance from current editors in preparing their notes. Affirmative action was discussed last year, she adds, but the leaders of minority student organizations suggested that the review open up it's selection process instead. "The only group can fairly assess the costs of these programs are the people who are supposed to benefit, Morawetz says. NYU's law review curretnly includes one minority editor, an Asian student, but has not under-representation of women. "It's very possible that a further affirmative action program might be introduced next year," Morawetz predicts.

University of Pennsylvania Law Review (University of Pennsylvania): Two-thirds of the editors are chosen on the basis of grades, the other third through a writing competition. Last spring, according to outgoing editor-in-chief Marcie Horowitz, the review editors decided they wanted to start an affirmative action program, and sent a letter to students and faculty. "There was a great uproar," Horowitz says minority student groups indicated they opposed the idea, and the faculty kept silent. "It was a pretty negative reception, so we decided to give it up," Horowitz says. "The topic will probably come up again, but our experience certainly wasn't encouraging," she adds. The review currently has no minority members.

Stanford Law Review (Stanford University): Stanford selects its editors solely through a five-week writing competition in the fall, during which candidates write law review notes and perform tasks like checking citations, says outgoing president Adam W. Glass '78. "There's some self-selection--people drop out, and we vote on the people who are left," he says. "The process is as blind as possible, but in the second half of the comp when people are working around the office it's hard to be completely anonymous." Glass says that race and gender are considered a "valid topic for discussion" at these election meetings, but that the review has no formal affirmative action plan. Of 65 current editors, 16 are women, three are Black, three Chicano and one Asian.