After Student Outcry, Chicago Law School Immigration Debate Is Spiked
A gathering of Edmund Burke Society members at the University of Chicago Law School that was promoted by a document referring to immigrants as "other nations' wretched refuse" has been postponed indefinitely.
February 05, 2018 at 02:46 PM
3 minute read
|
A controversial immigration debate at the University of Chicago Law School this week has been indefinitely postponed by student organizers citing an “unacceptably high risk of serious disturbance.”
The law school's Edmund Burke Society—which bills itself as a “conservative parliamentary debating society”—touched off a campus outcry last week when it invited students to the Feb. 6 debate dubbed “Resolved: Raise the Bar” with a so-called whip sheet that many found offensive. The whip sheet was intended to serve as a call to Edmund Burke Society members to participate in the event.
“Instead of being a porcelain receptacle for other nations' wretched refuse, the United States should again put America first,” the whip sheet reads. Immigration has “diluted national unity” and “crushed domestic wages,” it continues, before offering a counterargument that immigration should be reformed, not restricted.
A group of students responded on the law school's listserv calling the whip sheet racist and raising concerns over the debating society's events, with the backlash generating coverage on Above the Law. A group of students planned to silently protest during the debate, while the school's Law Students Association is planning to hold a town hall to discuss the matter Monday evening.
Shortly after issuing the whip sheet, the Edmund Burke Society issued a statement that the document was intended to “stimulate interest” in its upcoming debates. “To that end, it sets out arguments on both sides of a resolution on which conservatives are likely to disagree among themselves,” the statement said. “In doing so, it often employs hyperbolic language parodying both sides, along with allusions to current events and canonical works of literature.”
But on Saturday evening, society chairman and second-year law student Eric Wessan said the debate would be postponed.
“In light of recent events—in particular, media attention extending beyond the University of Chicago community—the chairman is no longer confident that the event can proceed as planned without an unacceptably high risk of serious disturbance,” he wrote in an email obtained by The Chicago Maroon campus newspaper. Attempts to reach Wessan and other members of the group were not successful.
Law professor Todd Henderson, who was due to deliver pro-immigration comments at the debate, told the Maroon that students may have misunderstood the over-the-top rhetoric that is customary to the whip sheets, which are intended primarily for members of the debate society.
Several law students who opposed the immigration debate issued their own letter over the weekend saying the law school must do more to promote diversity.
“These whip sheets and the gatherings foster a hostile climate for marginalized students at the school,” they wrote.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All'A Regressive Institution': SDNY Judge Rakoff Delivers Pointed Remarks on SCOTUS in Recent Appearance
2 minute readGeorgia July Bar Exam Results: Highest Overall Passing Rate in 10 Years
Coalition of AGs Support Updates to ABA's Legal Education Diversity Standard
3 minute readBar Leader Promotes Intergenerational Links, But Elder Lawyers Should Know When 'It's Time to Stop'
Trending Stories
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250