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Peter Kalis's avatar

In 1972, as a 22 year old fresh out of West Virginia University, I surveyed the Yale Law School dining hall and saw Bill Clinton, Hillary Rodham, Sam Alito, Rob Reich, Clarence Thomas, Dick Blumenthal and other eventual stars in the legal firmament. I was struck with how confident they were in their often opposing views and yet how respectful they were to each other. They were abundantly talented young adults preparing to play major roles in American life. And on the faculty I saw Eugene Rostow, Lou Pollak, Clyde Summers, Ralph Winter, Harry Wellington, Abe Goldstein, Alexander Bickel, Ellen Peters, Guido Calabresi and other extraordinary scholars and public intellectuals. Again, they were entirely respectful (as best as I could tell) to each other, even though their views on legal issues often collided. Gene Rostow and Lou Pollak, whose views of constitutional law were less than fully aligned, co-taught my Constitutional Law II course! My experience at Yale Law School transformed my life, not least because it taught me to listen and think, and I’m thus terribly saddened to watch it as it exists today. I’m not close enough to say who is to blame, as there would appear to be a deeply rooted intolerance in much of the American academy, but the Dean’s leadership has been less than inspiring. I am close enough to conclude, however, that Yale Law School is unlikely to be part of any solution. Those days are over.

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Peter Kalis's avatar

I write not to weigh in again on Bethany Scott’s invocation of Karl (or Sam) Popper. You would rightly throw a flag for piling on if I were to do that. Instead, David, while you gave “credit” to Professor Kate Stith for her management of this situation, this now seems insufficient. The video evidence in fact displays Professor Stith’s moral, intellectual and physical courage as she stood tall in the face of borderline hooliganism in her classroom — all while her Dean is apparently asleep at the switch. She deserves more than credit. She deserves the deep gratitude of all who prize free speech and academic freedom. Thank you Professor Stith.

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