A small law firm stepped up in a big way to challenge Harvard’s leadership after its repeated failings to address antisemitism on campus.
Inaction led to the support of Harvard University President Dr. Claudine Gay when members of the oversight board, Harvard Corporation, affirmed their “confidence” in her leadership despite a massive outcry that included a vote in Congress calling for her to step down. The stubborn stand moved a Chicago law firm to take matters into its own hands by backing out of multiple recruiting events.
In a letter penned to Harvard Law School’s director of recruitment and operations, Jay Edelson, the founder and CEO of Edelson PC, asserted, “In light of these events, we have made the difficult decision to discontinue our participation in on-campus interviews at Harvard Law School, including the Spring Interview Program scheduled for the beginning of 2024.”
NEW: Edelson PC, a major law firm, will no longer participate in on-campus interviews at Harvard Law School due to Claudine Gay’s Congressional testimony.
“Dr. Gay was in a position to help lead the country. She did the very opposite,” writes founder and CEO Jay Edelson: pic.twitter.com/aTWhX62BKL
— Steve McGuire (@sfmcguire79) December 16, 2023
Along with the spring interviews expected to take place at the end of January, the firm backed out of Harvard’s August interviewing event, “which is when Edelson and major corporate law firms hire the bulk of their summer associates,” reported Reuters.
“This is not about Harvard law students,” Edelson told the outlet. “This is about the leadership of Harvard and how much of a megaphone it has on the world stages. They should use that megaphone responsibly.”
“I understand that this is not going to be as relevant to them than if Skadden Arps pulled put [sic], but I’m hoping they start seeing that even the liberal firms think this is well past a line,” he went on.
In the letter, Edelson explained, “As lawyers, we know that words can be powerful. Dr. Gay was in a position to help lead the country. She did the very opposite.”
Furthermore, he spoke out on X as word of his stance spread, “I’ve stayed silent for too long as the DEI movement and my fellow liberals have lost their way. This issue is not about party lines, as many portray it. I hope to add something new to the conversation.”
I’ve stayed silent for too long as the DEI movement and my fellow liberals have lost their way. This issue is not about party lines, as many portray it. I hope to add something new to the conversation. https://t.co/z93zntPIqW
— Jay Edelson (@jayedelson) December 14, 2023
The latest boycott against Harvard followed previous calls against hiring graduates from the university after more than 30 campus student organizations had issued an anti-Israel statement after the Oct. 7 terror attack by Hamas.
For the time being, Gay remained in her position after testimony that context would matter in determining if calls for genocide of Jews constituted hate speech, a point the lawyer spoke to in his letter and said, “Factoring in her extensive experience and preparation with a crisis management team, Dr. Gay’s testimony before Congress cannot be seen as merely a slip of the tongue.”
“We have no intention of returning to on-campus recruiting unless there is a sea change,” he added in a statement to Fox News Digital. “The easiest solution would be for Harvard to simply remove Dr. Gay but would, in many ways, just gloss over the core problem. Harvard has been one of the most vocal proponents of ‘educating’ the nation on the need for safe spaces for students, how important trigger warnings are, and how words can be equated with violence.”
“We think Harvard owes a full opportunity to reconcile its countless statements and actions over the years with how it handled the Congressional testimony. I’ve been saying, in public and in private, that Dr. Gay should step up and hold a town hall on a major TV network,” continued Edelson as he proposed a way forward. “She needs to face the tough questions, from journalists and the public alike so that the nation understands very clearly what values are truly most dear to Harvard.”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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