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| Students at several law schools, including Harvard, have requested to postpone exams due to trauma caused by the recent grand jury decisions. Image: Shutterstock |
Law students at Columbia, Georgetown, and Harvard have all
requested that final exams be postponed for students who feel they have been
“traumatized” by the grand jury decisions in the Ferguson and Staten Island
cases.
“Unless you act
now, you will allow the systematic underperformance of a great many students of
color and allies on this campus on their exams,” a
student coalition wrote to Harvard administrators. “We cannot walk away
from our pain, and we cannot ignore our call to act against the injustice that
threatens our families and our commitment to the justice system.”
Columbia Law
School has officially agreed to allow the postponements, and a small number of
students have already postponed, though Columbia
spokeswoman Elizabeth Schmalz declined to say how many.
While some are
seeing this move as a sign of solidarity between students and staff deeply
affected by the cases, others see it as far too much handholding of people who,
if they become lawyers, are likely to face many such challenging court
decisions.
“If law students are upset about the
grand jury decisions, perhaps they should rededicate themselves to their
coursework in hopes of one day working to reform the system or standing up for
those abused by it,” wrote
Robby Stoave in the Reason.com blog.
“But if disappointing legal decisions render them truly unable to
function...well, they aren't going to make very good lawyers.”
Harvard at least
has delayed law school exams for traumatic events in the past, such as when
students participated in the 1970 protests against the Vietnam War. Could the current situation be similar? Or is it completely different?
“This is
more than a personal emergency,” Harvard students wrote of the Michael Brown
and Eric Garner decisions. “This is a
national emergency.”
To date,
students will be allowed postponements, but only on an individual basis.
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