Harvard Law Dean Martha Minow-Tolerance In The Age Of Terror

[johnkarls]

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Our author, Amos Guiora, cites in “Freedom From Religion” an article entitled “Tolerance In The Age Of Terror.”

It caught my eye because its author is Martha Minow, Dean of Harvard Law School succeeding Elena Kagan upon her appointment in 2009 to be U.S. Solicitor General (followed in 2010 by elevation to the U.S. Supreme Court).

Dean Minow has been a Harvard Law Professor since 1981, only 9 years after HLS appointed its FIRST female law professor!!! (It did not even admit its first female students until the early 1950’s and, unlike other law schools, was a bastion of gender discrimination practiced by the faculty – which has been commented upon elsewhere on this bulletin board!!!)

However, the appointment of Elena Kagan and now Martha Minow as HLS Dean is not a matter of penance since there is no question that both merited the honor!!!

I have not had time to read Dean Minow’s article, but am posting it on faith that when I am able to read it in the next few days, I would regret not having posted it immediately.

Press below for Dean Minow's article --

RL-MinowArticle-ToleranceInTheAgeOfTerror.pdf

(430.7 KiB) Downloaded 176 times

[Pat]

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The third paragraph refers to a posting elsewhere on this bulletin board.

It comprises the last portion of the posting = "Proposed Solution = 'Wiki'-Politica"
Under the category = "Proposed Solution To The Cesspool That Is Washington DC"
For our subject for 2/14/2008 = "The Best Government Money Can Buy: Bribery & Extortion"

The last portion of that posting by John Karls =

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Footnote on the Anti-Feminism of Archibald Cox

Although Archibald Cox is one of my all-time heroes for his performance as the Watergate Special Prosecutor and for his championing Common Cause, it should be noted that he was at least a latent anti-feminist.

Archibald Cox was a Harvard Law Professor when I attended (1964-67) and took a leave of absence to serve as the Watergate Special Prosecutor May - Oct 1973.

Archibald Cox subpoenaed the "White House Tapes" and Richard Nixon not only refused to comply, but also demanded on October 20, 1973 that Attorney General Eliot Richardson fire Cox. Richardson not only refused but resigned in protest. Nixon immediately demanded that Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus fire Cox and Ruckelshaus not only refused but resigned in protest. Nixon immediately demanded that Solicitor General Robert Bork (SG is third in command at DOJ) fire Cox and Bork complied.

In retaliation, the US Senate refused to confirm Bork’s nomination to the Supreme Court in 1987, even though they had confirmed him for the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit in 1982.

Incidentally, like Barack Obama, the ranks of past Harvard Law Review Presidents include Archibald Cox, Eliot Richardson and William Ruckelshaus. Bork was on leave from the Yale LS faculty in 1973.

Leading all HLS graduates to joke that Harvard Law Review Presidents do "the right thing" and it took a Yale man to bring "The Saturday Night Massacre" to a grisly close!!! (A "good omen" for supporting Barack Obama!!!)

However, like many of our Founding Fathers who owned slaves, Archibald Cox had a stain on his record. But, unlike the Founding Fathers vis-à-vis slavery, the stain of Archibald Cox is not obvious.

By way of background, HLS admitted no female students until the 1950's, and during my era (1964-67) and for a considerable time thereafter, there was rampant anti-feminism practiced by the faculty.

For example, many of the faculty would stage periodic "Ladies' Days" during which the 28 female members of our class of 560 (the 5% female quota) would be forced to sit on the dais while the professor would sit in the middle of the male students and pepper the "Ladies" with particularly hard and embarrassing questions.

Indeed, it was not until 1972 that Elisabeth Owens, who was the country's foremost authority on international taxation when I was a student, became the first female non-visiting professor at HLS. By that time, many of the students were female and they had demanded a course on Women's Issues. They also demanded it be taught by a female. HLS brought in as a visiting professor a woman from Rutgers Law School who would be moving on to Columbia Law School the following year. She was so offended by her treatment at the hands of the all-male HLS faculty that she refused to return after the December vacation period and fled prematurely to Columbia Law School. The female HLS students went on strike. HLS appointed a male professor to teach the rest of the course. The female HLS students remained on strike. HLS turned to Elisabeth Owens and asked her to teach the rest of the course even though her official title for more than two decades was "Lecturer" despite being one of the most illustrious faculty members during that period. Her reply = "That course should only be taught by a professor"!!! Which is how Elisabeth Owens became the first regular female HLS professor (the visiting prof had been the 1st overall). Though many decades after other first-rate law schools had appointed women as professors, and for the wrong reason!!!

Also by way of background, I have attended every class reunion. Our class may be the only HLS class that always features an "open forum" during our reunions where we all sit together in one of the lecture halls and just "shoot the bull" about whatever topics we find interesting. Indeed, since our 1982 reunion, those of us among the 25% of the class that came to NYC have had a monthly luncheon at the Harvard Club of NYC to "shoot the bull" and, according to the club, we are the only class of any component of Harvard U to do anything comparable.

So please imagine my disgust at our 30th reunion in 1997.

At our "open forum" the surviving members of our ranks of 28 females once more castigated HLS for its historical anti-feminism. BUT THEN, Ken Gormley who had just completed a few months earlier his famous book "Archibald Cox: Conscience of a Nation" praised Archibald Cox, among other things, for his role as Special Watergate Prosecutor (though a 1980 HLS grad whose class was not even involved in the every-5-year-reunion cycle, Ken must have been attending the festivities because of his recent book and have been invited to attend our “open forum” by one of the members of our class).

Having to suffer through yet another 30-minute rant on HLS' historical anti-feminism and now having to listen at length to Ken Gormley (whose presentation would have been wonderful in isolation!!!), "yours truly" could not remain silent any longer!!!

He rose to point out that the anti-feminism that had earlier been described once more so eloquently was not the fault of an institution, since many other law schools did not experience similar problems, but was the fault of the faculty members themselves. AND WHO WAS THE ONLY FACULTY MEMBER WHO SINGLE-HANDEDLY COULD HAVE PUT A STOP TO IT??? If he really was the "Conscience of A Nation," Archibald Cox could have simply said at any faculty meeting that the anti-feminism of the HLS faculty would have to stop immediately or he would resign accompanied by a press release explaining the reason for his resignation!!!

Several of our female members immediately leapt to the defense of Archibald Cox, defending him as "a product of his times," much like our Founding Fathers are often excused for being slave owners.

BUT I DIDN'T LET THEM OFF THE HOOK!!! I MADE THEM ADMIT THAT ARCHIBALD COX WAS THE ONLY PERSON WHO COULD HAVE SINGLE-HANDEDLY ENDED THE DISGUSTING ANTI-FEMINISM OF HLS - AND FAILED TO DO SO.

Incidentally, I am pleased to report that HLS has mended its ways. Its current faculty directory shows that 62 of the total faculty of 234 (26.50%) have traditional female names and 15 of the 234 (6.41%) have names that are indeterminate. In addition, Elena Kagan has been our Dean since 7/1/2003.