Interesting story. Yale Law students rising up to call bullshit on the power and privilege perpetuated by their professors and institution. Is it a blip or will this bring lasting change? nytimes.com/2018/09/26/nyr…
Story makes it clear this isn't just about Kavanaugh. The Yale Law students recognize that a system where advancement is tied to personal privilege, like Amy Chua taking a shine to you, should be inconsistent with the stated institutional values.
I admire the Yale Law students, but remain skeptical that this will bring about anything like lasting change. Power is the fuel of places like Yale. To cede it to others or distribute it more evenly is to dilute it and it's a risk elite institutions simply don't know how to take.
A world in which Yale Law embodies the values the students are seeking to hold them to is a world in which Yale Law isn't YALE LAW. I'd personally prefer that world, but it's hard to overstate how radical a change this would be. It means dismantling 100's of yrs of privilege.
Yale Law can't be simultaneously elite - with all the resulting power - and egalitarian. Our egalitarian institutions - e.g. community colleges - can never be elite because again, elite must be coupled with power.
Don't know enough about law school admissions, but undergraduate elite institutions could take some concrete steps to become more egalitarian. No legacy admissions, + admissions "lottery" for all qualified applicants would be a step in right direction.
