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Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Professor Patricia Leary
Inside Higher Ed and ATL report that Patricia Leary of Whittier Law School wrote the now-famous Black Lives Matter letter.
Posted by Howard Wasserman on July 12, 2016 at 04:14 PM in Howard Wasserman, Teaching Law | Permalink
Comments
Hahaha. I never heard (or don't remember hearing) the Narcissus myth. Quite clever, I must say.
Posted by: YesterdayIKilledAMammoth | Jul 13, 2016 3:24:06 PM
Hahaha. I never heard (or don't remember hearing) the Narcissus myth. Quite clever, I must say.
Posted by: YesterdayIKilledAMammoth | Jul 13, 2016 3:24:06 PM
"I don't actually know how to interpret your last sentence."
Is it a reference to the Narcissus myth?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissus_(mythology)
Posted by: Joe | Jul 13, 2016 11:08:48 AM
John,
To be fair, I didn't actually dismiss rage in the face of unjust killings. What I did say was that the Anon E. Muss's statement was comically hyperbolic given Paul's contention.
Also, your comment is a bit of a non-sequitur. How does my contention that the student's anonymity is understandable because he or she would have faced probable backlash logically lead to the conclusion that I feel no rage at unjust killings?
And this is a serious point, so I hope you and whoever else reads this will stick with me for a moment. We have a terrible habit (especially on the internet) of reading or hearing something we don't like and then assigning to that person the most negative characteristics imaginable. I think that is destructive and not terribly becoming.
Finally, I don't actually know how to interpret your last sentence. Is it a threat? A put-down? A saying I'm just not familiar with? I'm also not entirely sure what my disappointing career has to do with anything. I assume you were just on a roll with the venting.
Posted by: YesterdayIKilledAMammoth | Jul 13, 2016 1:17:25 AM
"I would be shocked if this professor is either white or male."
Looks white to me. Hope someone is over the shock.
Posted by: Joe | Jul 13, 2016 12:46:04 AM
From the guy that said the tedious letter that sparked this whole thing had to be anonymous because of fears for his safety, I'm not at all surprised to see you dismiss rage in face of unjust killings as melodrama while treating your career disappointment as one of the great evils in the world.
I wouldn't go looking in any pools if I were you.
Posted by: john | Jul 12, 2016 11:13:35 PM
It's our "scream of indignant rage."
As it were.
Posted by: YesterdayIKilledAMammoth | Jul 12, 2016 7:58:49 PM
I see we have the axe grinders out in force today.
Posted by: Anon | Jul 12, 2016 7:46:42 PM
Law schools like Whittier are exploiting minority students by admitting them and taking their loan money when the school knows they have little chance to graduate. Professor Leary should be protesting this.
Posted by: Frank | Jul 12, 2016 7:35:18 PM
Sorry to double post, but I think what Paul was getting at was, with such an abysmal bar passage rate, perhaps the professors should focus on teaching their subject first (you know, what the students need to pass the bar) before going off on social justice tangents?
Unless, of course, we would like to argue that it's entirely the students' fault that the bar passage rate is so low.
Posted by: YesterdayIKilledAMammoth | Jul 12, 2016 6:44:21 PM
"A scream of indignant rage..."
That has to be the most overly dramatic phrase I've read on the internet in quite some time.
Which is saying something.
Posted by: YesterdayIKilledAMammoth | Jul 12, 2016 6:39:54 PM
"Would someone care to explain why any member of this faculty has standing to shed crocodile tears over the fate of Black and Hispanic citizens in this country?"
Unless, maybe, they're among the police officers doing the killing, I can't imagine why anyone in this country would not have standing to shed an ocean of tears over "the fate of Black and Hispanic citizens in this country." A scream of indignant rage wouldn't be out of place, either. How dare you challenge someone's right--hell, responsibility--to call out the unjustified murder of minorities on the basis of bar pass numbers? Have you lost all sense of proportion?
Posted by: Anon E. Muss | Jul 12, 2016 6:32:51 PM
Whittier is well known for defending its low standards for admissions by arguing that it accepts a disproportionate number of minority students. On the most recent July bar exam, the school came in last place among ABA accredited law schools in the state with a pass rate (just counting the first time test takers mind you) of 38%. Based on the wide disparity in pass rates between white and minority students on the CA Bar, (which does not break out ethnic data by individual school) we can safely assume that Whittier's minority students had a pass rate substantially below the school average.
Would someone care to explain why any member of this faculty has standing to shed crocodile tears over the fate of Black and Hispanic citizens in this country?
Posted by: PaulB | Jul 12, 2016 4:50:16 PM
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