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Vol. 3, No. 6, October 3, 1969 University of Michigan Law School

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Vol. 3, No. 6, October 3, 1969 University of Michigan Law School University of Michigan Law School University of Michigan Law School Scholarship Repository Res Gestae Law School History and Publications 1969 Vol. 3, No. 6, October 3, 1969 University of Michigan Law School Follow this and additional works at: http://repository.law.umich.edu/res_gestae Part of the Legal Education Commons Recommended Citation University of Michigan Law School, "Vol. 3, No. 6, October 3, 1969" (1969). Res Gestae. Paper 768. http://repository.law.umich.edu/res_gestae/768 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law School History and Publications at University of Michigan Law School Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Res Gestae by an authorized administrator of University of Michigan Law School Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. RES GESTAE VOL. 3, NO. 6 "Exhaust all legal remedies." October 3, 1969 EDITORIAL "A Day for Peace 11 The War in Vietnam has gone on long enough, but still there seems to be little hope that the Nixon Administration will bring an end to the conflict. It is incumbent on the citizens of the UnittA.W1JBitAtt¥ and act to end the war. qn vl~~d~ October.,I5, _the peopl7 of Ann ~rbor are b~ing. asked to ~~gage 1.n a. one-day. g~neral str1.ke to_ pro.test· the war. · Stu<¥tiilnfnc:W~aa~Uill, not attend school,' workers will t'ake . the ~l>Ti,MiidlWiflt~t.smen w;i.ll. clo..se: :their busi;n~s§~s for. _the : day. The local act:i.:vity.- here is be~ng, coor,9inated' 'with othe'r . general Strikes or day of. i'Vietnatn tnoratorfw~u around. th~ country~ . Members of the law school community must choose whether to join the strike or continue school. as usual. W~ urge that all students, professors, and staff of the law scho'ol strike. · .. - . .. ' ,, . Law students··, faculty and staff are .nqt men and women ·apart from the body politic. We have the same resp-onsibility as. other citizens. If we do not act to end the war then we are responsible for that war. But, too often lawyers and law students do not act, giving as their excuse that there are two sides t~ any issue. Anyone who believes that we should be in Vietnam now and't~at we should continue sending troops over there obviously should not join this action. But, if you agree that we should ~ot be there ~; if you believe "Out of Vietnam -- Times .Up," then it is tillle to act. And the only way to influence the governmemt is to· act in concert with your fellow citizens. By strikirig.on October 15,· you will be doing this. The action has been endorsed by a wide variety of groups. In Washington, a group of c_ongressmen, including Senators Edward Kennedy, Edmund Muskie, and George McGovern, are planning to stay· away from the Capitol aQ, that the Senate will not have a q:uorum that day. · Specifically at the Law School we call upon: 1. Dean Allen and the Faculty Assembly to make it clear to · students, faculty, and staff that they pave the right to foilow their conscience and not attend classes or work on October 15; 2. all professors to discuss the action with their stud~rtts and staff and to decide to call off classes; , 3. all students to talk with their protessors.concernirtg.the action and to refuse to attend classes on October 15. The strike on October 15 is not. a radical action. It, is simply an attempt by citizens to end a war we have had enough'of. ·. ~ . ******, - 2 - BLACK STUDENT RECRUITMENT - Background Last week the executive committee of the Black Law Students Association charged that the faculty had broken a pledge to take approximately fifty law students in this years first-year class. The immediate faculty response was to deny that such a promise had ever been made. This year seventeen black law students entered in the first year class of 440 students. This is only a slight increase from the fourteen in the class of '71. The dispute really arose from negotiations which began las.t year between BLSA, the faculty, and the committee on special admissions. Although all parties agree that a rehash of what went on in the past will not serve a_ useful purpose as far as reaching agreement on future admissions-policy, it is important to keep certain events in perspective, in judging the present reque_sts of BLSA. These present requests are-basically for 100 black law students in each class beginning with next yearus class. BLSA will take on the obligation of recruiting these f?.tu~ents. ;:According to Jim \.Jaters, Chairman of BLSA, the figure of 100 is-' not a 'quota,_. but a goal, "We don't care if it's 95 ox 110. u_ · Ever since 1966 black· students have been admitted.to the law school even though they had a lower index (LSAT score plus grade point) than whites who were not admitted.. -The faculty ·justified this as necessary to make the law school responsive to the needs of society •. The ·faculty, in effect, gave the adniissions officers and the special admissions committee the power to consider nsoft data" in determining whether a bl:ack applicant could maintaj,.n a 2.0 average at the school~ The percentage of black students, however, has never been more than 4% of the class. _Last year .BLSA took on the responsibil.it of recruiting black applicants. "The black students here did a good job of getting a fair number of blacks to apply here,_ ~~t few were admitted," stated Professor Robert Harris, last yearus chairman of the committee. A more pessimistic analysis was offered by Professor Whitmore Gray who saw the special recruitment drive as a failure. The recruitment drive was coupled with the faculty adoption of the "Sobol Plan"' after the black students demanded to be admittec to a closed Faculty Assembly meeting. The "Sobol Plan" established a 475 presumptive score for 'blacks on the LSAT. "The understanding was that the score was not a hard and fast cut off point, and other factors would be considered," Ben Spaulding, a member of BLSA explained. The "Sobol Plan19 also encompas_sed a stretched-out school year. Rather than taking two semesters beginning in August, certain black applicants were asked to start in the summer and take a reduced load. In effect, they would be taking 29 credits in two semesters plus the summer. Eight students began under this plan in June. The point of divergence on the facts is in regard to whether any promise was made to take 50 black students. Edward Fabre agreeL - 3 - with the faculty tl}at no number was mentioll;ed ..at tl:ie .we~·ti:ng with the whole faculty, but does claim tha:t· iri private meetings with four members of· BLSA, Oean Allen, and ·Harris, such a figure. was .. : mentioned and promised. Harris denies this.> · .,. ,, Both Fabre and Spaulding also stated that the law schooi.had implied that it would take students who did well in the Michigan CLEO program. The CLEO (Conference on Legal Education Opportunities' Program is funded nationally by the Office of Economic Opportunity and the Ford Foundation, and sponsored a stifnmer program for studentE of disadvantaged background (that means poor) who had low LSAT, but might still be able to do law school work. Spaulding and Edward Botchway worked in the program which was set up by all four Michigan law schools and held at t-J2;yne Law School. Eight students had. better than a 2 ~5 _average l.n:.t~e program·., and three did better than.475·on their boards. · .. According to Spaulding, the faculty here had refused t9 Just accept those students who.passe.d the CLEO··· program, but BLSA under­ stood that Harris wout'd teach in the program at:td recommend th,ose to be admitted. This procedure ·fell,through.when' H~rris ~as- elected Mayor of Ann Arbor. · · · At the et;1d of the progJ;am, ;Spaulding,·:Botchway and.the director of the program recommended that Michigan accept certain students, but none were accepted •. Gray and Harris both stated emphatically that no representation was ever made that students would be taken from CLEO. Gray went further and stated, uThe students in CLEO were never considered Michigan material.vv The point at this date is not what is the truth. Everyone involved is sure they are right. But, what this conflict has 1one is harden the positions of the parties. The black students' suspicion of the white faculty has increased. For the faculty, the process is similar. Professor Arthur Miller put it thus: ~'The faculty is faced with unsubstantiated claims of promises made, · and their reaction is to consider rejecting all demands." Neal Bush (This is the first in a series of articles. Next week's article will consider the policy arguments involved in admissions of black students and what the choices, if any, there are for the future.) * * * * * *-. BOARD COMPLETES COMMITTEE SELECTIONS At the regular Board o.f Directors I meeting on .'Thursday, September 25, the Board appointed Paul Chassy, JimGraham, and Bill McNeill to serve on the Curriculum Committee.· Because· o·f the wealth of talented people who. applied for ~he comm~~tee~,. t;:he Board decided to form special student comm1.ttee on curr1.culum, admissions, and academic standards. Each student committee will be•composed of the t;:hree members of the student-faculty· committee,· ·one me mb er· o f the· Bo.ard, and .
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