CCR Organizes `Diversity Day'

Poetry authored by students, renditions of Bette Midler's "From A Distance" and a panel on faculty diversity were all part of a series of events celebrating Diversity Day at the Law School yesterday.

The events, which included a rally in Harkness Commons and a student-faculty happy hour, were organized by the Coalition for Civil Rights (CCR), a group of law students urging greater faculty diversity at the Law School.

"Our goal is to have the faculty at Harvard Law School represent the world," said CCR Co-chair Inga Bernstein, one of several law students who either spoke, sang or read poetry at the rally.

Currently, six of the 64 tenured and tenure-track faculty members at the Law School are women, and five are Black.

Professor of Law Randall L. Kennedy said during the rally that the history of student protest on the issue of faculty diversity is "quite remarkable."

Kennedy, who is one of the five members of the Law School's appointments committee, praised the activities of CCR.

"The basic demand of this group is...a good demand, one that should inspire the allegiance of the entire student body, and the faculty as well," Kennedy said.

"The demand is being pressed in the a strong way--a militant way--but also with an open ear and a willingness to listen," he added.

An afternoon panel on diversity, attended by about 40 students, featured Professor of Law Charles J. Ogletree Jr., Pound Professor of Law James Vorenberg '49 and Professor of Law Gerald E. Frug.

The discussion centered around the benefits of a diverse faculty, and ways the Law School could achieve its goal of increased diversity.