3 Women Join Law Faculty

Three female professors this fall joined the Harvard Law School faculty, which many have criticized in recent years for not including enough women or minorities.

Anne-Marie Slaughter, a 1985 cum laude graduate of the law school, has received a tenured position as professor of law. The two other women, Diane Ring and Christine Jolls, will be assistant professors and do not have tenure.

Before the new arrival, women had occupied only six of the 65 tenure or tenure-track faculty positions at the Law School--four full professorships and two assistant professorships. None of the nine women now on the faculty are minorities.

"We're coming into the year in a good position," Law School Dean Robert C. Clark told the Harvard Law Record. Clark has said that during his tenure he would like to see women faculty members make great strides, and to see an expansion of the international dimension of the law school.

The debate over faculty diversity has been especially intense at times. Former Weld Professor of Law Derrick A. Bell resigned from the faculty last year after a two-year leave of absence to protest the lack of a tenured woman.

Students have been lobbying for a more diverse faculty for several years, though the protests have somewhat subsided lately. Some expressed joy that there are now more women at the Law School.

"I think it's a very positive thing for the law school," said Law School student Angela Payne '92. "We've been striving for diversity in the faculty and hopefully this is a good sign not only in terms of women but in terms of minority professors."

But other students said there is more work to be done.

"I think it's a positive development, but I think more needs to be done in the area of faculty diversity, particularly in attracting women of color to tenure positions at the law school," said Robert James, president of the Black Law Students Association.

But one law student said hiring women is not necessarily the only and ultimate goal.

"I think it's great that three new women have been hired, but I think it's appalling that they haven't hired women professors whose subjects are women's issues," Leah Guggenheimer said.

"The law school will hire women in subjects that are totally right-wing and conservative," she said. And it seems that Dean Clark is continuing his desire to make the law school a place that primarily trains corporate lawyers and his hiring reflects that."

In recent years, the Law School has offered tenure to--and been turned down by--a number of women, including Yale's Carol Rose and Pennsylvania's Elizabeth Warren.

Slaughter came to the law school last year as a visiting professor. She chose the tenured position at Harvard over a tenure offer from the University of Chicago Law School.

A public international law specialist, Slaughter will teach two international law classes this spring. "Harvard is the ideal place to do it because of the number of students and the interest in international studies," Slaughter told the Harvard Law Record.

Ring, who has worked as a tax attorney, said she hopes to expand the number of courses on taxation offered by the Law School. Ring, who enjoys teaching and researching, says she is better suited to be a professor than a lawyer.

"If you're interested in academics, you're interested in teaching." Ring said. "The business market is more client-oriented, while teaching allows you more flexibility to do your own research."

Ring said she was happy to return to her alma mater to teach. "I enjoyed law school, am familiar with some of its faculty members and resources and the quality is really very impressive," she said.

Jolls is one of the youngest professors in the history of the law school. A 1993 graduate of Harvard Law School, she is finishing her Ph.D. in economics this year. Jolls turned down positions at Yale and Stanford law schools to accept the Harvard offer.

"The fact that you know what students are learning in other fields is incredibly helpful," Jolls told the Harvard Law Record. "Just having been here, you know what will be useful to students."