Law Students Meet Dean, Debate Hiring Practices

Early morning drama at the home of Dean of the Law School Robert C. Clark prefaced an afternoon of heated debate yesterday about the school's efforts to hire minority and women faculty.

Approximately 20 law students, members of the Coalition for Civil Rights, surprised Clark at the doorstep of his Irving Street home to protest what they say is a lack of diversity on the Law School faculty.

An eight-day deadline set by coalition members for a response from Clark to their demands expired yesterday, and the students remained unsatisfied with a letter from the dean explaining his efforts towards faculty diversity.

The students arrived at Clark's home at about 8 a.m. and waited approximately 45 minutes for him to appear. They brandished signs demanding diversity and sang traditional spiritual protest songs, chanting "No justice, no peace" as they waited in the chilly morning weather.

"I was taking a shower and I heard someone besides myself singing," Clark said later in the day.

The protesters escorted Clark on his morning walk to the Law School and continued the discussion of the appointment process with him over coffee in Harkness Commons.

Clark scheduled an impromptu town hall meeting in the afternoon to continue the debate.

"We just want to keep the dean reminded that we're serious about our protest and that we want some substantive changes in the tenuring process and hiring process at this law school," said Ronald S. Sullivan, a second-year law student and chair of the Black Law Students Association (BLSA).

Of the 64 tenured or tenuretracked faculty members, six are Black men and five are white women.

In the letter issued earlier this week, Clark pledged he would actively recruit women candidates and reexamine women professors who have visited the school during the past ten years.

But coalition members said they staged yesterday's round of demonstrations because they wanted more than promises from the dean.

"Harvard Law School should be able to find one African-American woman on this planet that is qualified to teach here," said protest co-organizer Andrew S. Levin, a first-year law student.

During the walk to Harkness Commons, students outlined their demands: an immediate increase in minority hiring; an increased role in the hiring process; and a cooperative facultystudent effort to identify candidates.

Clark defended the school's minority hiringrecord and said Harvard is actively seeking moreminority appointments.

"Literally the pool is getting bigger rapidly,"he said. "I think it's going to show in ourappointments over the next few years."

Although Clark said he is willing to work withstudents, he pointed out that he is not solelyresponsible for hiring new faculty.

"My problem is convincing two-thirds of thefaculty that anybody is good enough," he said.Candidates forwarded by a faculty subcommitteemust be approved for tenure by a two-thirds voteof the full faculty.

Clark said that the faculty values studentinput but that it would be unlikely to put astudent on the appointments committee.

Although the students said meeting with thedean was constructive, they vowed not to give upuntil change occurs.

"We will not go away. We will use everyopportunity we can get, "said first-year RaulPerez '90. "He can't hide from us."

Clark agreed to hold regular meetings withconcerned students and he scheduled the first ofthese sessions for this Monday.

During the two-hour town meeting in AustinHall, the students joined Clark and more than 20faculty members in a lively discussion of theschool's hiring process.

Clark and several of the law professorsdefended the process and attempted to respond tospecific criticisms. The crowd eventually grew toinclude more than 175 students.

"The purpose of this meeting is for studentsand faculty members to come to a consensus aboutissues and get a list this semester about what'sfeasible and what we are going to do this semesterto change things." said first-year student JunyFrancois, a BLSA member who moderated the meeting.

Francois warned against the growing tensiondeveloping among Law School students withdifferent opinions on the issue.

"There is a growing sense of confrontation anddistrust [among students], on the border ofdisrespect," she said.

Leaders of the coalition demanded concreteplans to reform the appointments process, increasestudent input in the process, revise the criteriafor candidate evaluation and hire scholars thatcould help refocus the curriculum.

Members of the audience applauded calls for amore open faculty hiring process. "What we want ismore accountability, we want to be more informedabout what decisions are being made and how theyare being made," said a second-year law student.

But several professors joined Professor of LawFrank I. Michelman in voicing "strongreservations" about formal student representationon the faculty hiring board. Michelman didacknowledge that some level of studentrepresentation would be progressive.

Other faculty members said that full studentparticipation on the appointments committee wouldbe troublesome and unproductive.

"You are students. You are not faculty. Facultymembers are in the best position to evaluate thedegree of scholarly achievement [among candidatesfor tenure]," said Law School AdministrativeDirector for Admissions and Financial Aid BenareeP. Wiley.

Students in the audience were visibly agitatedby the statement. "There's an incorrect assumptionhere that the faculty is exclusively capable ofselecting the best professors," responded one lawstudent.

Professor of Law Christopher F. Edley Jr.received loud applause for his support of studentparticipation. "I think it would be a great idea,"said Edley, one of several professors who endorsedstudent representation in the process.

Edley added that he though the appointmentsprocess needed fundamental change. He warnedstudents "not to accept piecemeal concessions" intheir attempts at reforming the process.

Referring to Clark's arguments that one-thirdof recent appointments had been minorities orwomen, a third-year law student said he believedthe faculty was simply being "politicallyexpedient." The hirings did not represent afundamental change in thinking on the part ofmembers of the appointments committee, he said.

One professor at the meeting said he washopeful about the prospect of future openness."The changes I've seen in the last three weeks ismore than I've seen in the last seven or eightyears...I come away with a great deal of hope."

But some students were skeptical about howquickly the Law School would take action. "I'veheard these promises for the three years that I'vebeen here and I don't see any results," saidthird-year student Keith L. Boykin.CrimsonIsabel M. DedringMinority hiring activists walk to CLARK'shome this morning, demanding the Law Schoolincrease its efforts to hire minority and womenfaculty members. The protestors later accompaniedClark on his way to the Law School.

Clark defended the school's minority hiringrecord and said Harvard is actively seeking moreminority appointments.

"Literally the pool is getting bigger rapidly,"he said. "I think it's going to show in ourappointments over the next few years."

Although Clark said he is willing to work withstudents, he pointed out that he is not solelyresponsible for hiring new faculty.

"My problem is convincing two-thirds of thefaculty that anybody is good enough," he said.Candidates forwarded by a faculty subcommitteemust be approved for tenure by a two-thirds voteof the full faculty.

Clark said that the faculty values studentinput but that it would be unlikely to put astudent on the appointments committee.

Although the students said meeting with thedean was constructive, they vowed not to give upuntil change occurs.

"We will not go away. We will use everyopportunity we can get, "said first-year RaulPerez '90. "He can't hide from us."

Clark agreed to hold regular meetings withconcerned students and he scheduled the first ofthese sessions for this Monday.

During the two-hour town meeting in AustinHall, the students joined Clark and more than 20faculty members in a lively discussion of theschool's hiring process.

Clark and several of the law professorsdefended the process and attempted to respond tospecific criticisms. The crowd eventually grew toinclude more than 175 students.

"The purpose of this meeting is for studentsand faculty members to come to a consensus aboutissues and get a list this semester about what'sfeasible and what we are going to do this semesterto change things." said first-year student JunyFrancois, a BLSA member who moderated the meeting.

Francois warned against the growing tensiondeveloping among Law School students withdifferent opinions on the issue.

"There is a growing sense of confrontation anddistrust [among students], on the border ofdisrespect," she said.

Leaders of the coalition demanded concreteplans to reform the appointments process, increasestudent input in the process, revise the criteriafor candidate evaluation and hire scholars thatcould help refocus the curriculum.

Members of the audience applauded calls for amore open faculty hiring process. "What we want ismore accountability, we want to be more informedabout what decisions are being made and how theyare being made," said a second-year law student.

But several professors joined Professor of LawFrank I. Michelman in voicing "strongreservations" about formal student representationon the faculty hiring board. Michelman didacknowledge that some level of studentrepresentation would be progressive.

Other faculty members said that full studentparticipation on the appointments committee wouldbe troublesome and unproductive.

"You are students. You are not faculty. Facultymembers are in the best position to evaluate thedegree of scholarly achievement [among candidatesfor tenure]," said Law School AdministrativeDirector for Admissions and Financial Aid BenareeP. Wiley.

Students in the audience were visibly agitatedby the statement. "There's an incorrect assumptionhere that the faculty is exclusively capable ofselecting the best professors," responded one lawstudent.

Professor of Law Christopher F. Edley Jr.received loud applause for his support of studentparticipation. "I think it would be a great idea,"said Edley, one of several professors who endorsedstudent representation in the process.

Edley added that he though the appointmentsprocess needed fundamental change. He warnedstudents "not to accept piecemeal concessions" intheir attempts at reforming the process.

Referring to Clark's arguments that one-thirdof recent appointments had been minorities orwomen, a third-year law student said he believedthe faculty was simply being "politicallyexpedient." The hirings did not represent afundamental change in thinking on the part ofmembers of the appointments committee, he said.

One professor at the meeting said he washopeful about the prospect of future openness."The changes I've seen in the last three weeks ismore than I've seen in the last seven or eightyears...I come away with a great deal of hope."

But some students were skeptical about howquickly the Law School would take action. "I'veheard these promises for the three years that I'vebeen here and I don't see any results," saidthird-year student Keith L. Boykin.CrimsonIsabel M. DedringMinority hiring activists walk to CLARK'shome this morning, demanding the Law Schoolincrease its efforts to hire minority and womenfaculty members. The protestors later accompaniedClark on his way to the Law School.