Welcome back to Ahead of the Curve. I'm Karen Sloan, legal education editor at Law.com, and I'll be your host for this weekly look at innovation and notable developments in legal education.

What happens when a law dean gets the call to step up and become a top university official? The job comes with its challenges, as former law deans leading Syracuse University and Indiana University-Bloomington, learned last month amid controversies involving racism and free speech. I'm also checking in on Harvard Law School's overdue move to develop a new seal, after the previous one was cast off in 2016. Plus, the LSAT had a rough month due to myriad problems with the November test, and the Skadden Foundation has released its latest round of fellows. Read on!

So You Want to Be A University President

Being a law school dean is a good stepping stone for aspiring university presidents. We've seen more than a few legal academics make that leap. But the last few weeks have offered reminders that running the show is not an easy gig. Several former law school bigwigs have been caught up in controversies that have ended up in the national spotlight.

Let's start with Kent Syverud, former dean of both Washington University in St. Louis School of Law and Vanderbilt Law School who became chancellor and president of Syracuse University in 2014. That upstate New York campus has been roiled in controversy for weeks, after a series of racists incidents broke out, starting with offensive graffiti in a dorm. Student activists staged protests, walkouts and sit-ins for two weeks over the university's handling of the recent incidents as well as long-simmering tensions over racism on campus. Syverud eventually agreed to most of the students' demands, but not before the matter gained national attention. Some critics called for Syverud's resignation, though the board of trustees backed him. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo weighed in, saying Syverud had not handled the investigations "in a way that instills confidence" and suggested an independent monitor.

Next up is Lauren Robel, former dean of Indiana University Maurer School of Law-Bloomington, and a former President of the Association of American Law Schools. Robel was named the provost of Indiana University-Bloomington, in 2012.

Robel is embroiled in a campus free speech controversy, but her handling of the matter is earning high marks in many corners. A series of offensive statements made on Twitter by economics professor Eric Rasmusen recently came to light, including his opinion that gay men should not be teachers and his reference to women as "the weaker sex." Robel issued a statement on Nov. 20 that both condemned Rasmusen's views as "vile and stupid," and rebuffed calls for his firing, saying that such action is prohibited under the First Amendment. "That is not a close call," she wrote. (The university is allowing students to transfer out of Rasmusen's classes, however.)

Many First Amendment experts praised Robel's response for being candid and protecting Rasmusen's free speech rights. Not everyone is a fan, however. University of Chicago law professor Brian Leiter wrote on his blog that Robel's erred in weighing in on the content of Rasmusen's opinions. "Her job is not to attack members of her faculty, however stupid or foolish they may be; her job is to uphold the constitutional rights of faculty (which she professes she will do) and insure compliance with anti-discrimination laws, among other tasks," Leiter wrote.

Harvard Law Seals the Deal

Back in the spring of 2016, Harvard Law School decided to deep-six its official seal because it featured the family coat of arms of early donor and slaveholder Isaac Royall Jr. That decision came after months of debate and inquiry from a special committee, which ultimately recommended changing the crest due to its association with slavery.

Now, more than three years later, the law school is moving forward with a replacement for the seal. Dean John Manning recently announced in an email to students the formation of a working group to develop a new seal.

"Working in conjunction with the University and the Harvard Corporation, we will move forward with the proposal of a new shield that fits within Harvard's suite of shields and that represents the broad aspirations of Harvard Law School," he wrote.

The working group will be chaired by professor Annette Gordon-Reed. She served on the committee that initially examined the former seal, but unlike her fellow committee members, she recommended keeping it. She said the law school should not push aside its early connection to the Royall family, but rather use it as an opportunity for further study and education.

In addition to faculty, staff and alumni, the school plans to include two current students in the working group. Interested students have until Dec. 23 to apply. Developing a replacement seal has taken longer than initially expected. In 2016, then-dean Martha Minow wrote that the school aimed to have a new crest in place for Harvard Law School's bicentennial, which took place in 2017.

Meanwhile, the Harvard Law Record is having some fun with the initiative. It has pitched a new seal featuring an alligator—a reference to Yale Law School's shield—a cat—an homage to Remy, a campus-famous feline known the roam the halls of the school—and staples—a "reference to the hard-fought battle to get staplers installed in the HLS printers."

LSAT Headaches

The November administration of the Law School Admission Test was … shall we say … rocky. It's the most popular testing date of the year, by far, and this was the first time the entrance exam was given in November on tablets instead of the traditional paper. So it's fair to say there was a steep learning curve in getting the new digital test out to so many locations and test takers. Above the Law has a thorough rundown of the problems, but here are a few:

➤➤The Law School Admission Council canceled the exam ahead of time at 30 locations due to a lack of properly trained proctors.

➤➤Proctors never showed up at a several testing sites, including in Memphis; Williamsburg, VA.; and Valdosta Georgia.

➤➤Exams were delayed in numerous locations due to late-arriving equipment and other technical issues.

Here's what Law School Admission Council President Kellye Testy had to say about the situation:

"We have never experienced the level of staffing and equipment-delivery issues that we saw this month. These vast majority of these issues are not related to the digital test. They are issues we will fix through better communication and tracking, and operational improvements."

The LSAC has scheduled make-up exams for Dec. 8, which will be given on paper. Hopefully things go smoother this week.

NYU Law Has a Strong Year on the Skadden Fellows Market

The Skadden Foundation last week unveiled its 2020 fellows—28 law school 3Ls who will spend the next two years working in public interest positions. Students at top-ranked law schools tend to dominate the list, but NYU looks to have had a particularly strong year. The Manhattan school has four incoming fellows, tying with Harvard Law School. But it's Yale Law School that gets bragging rights this year, with six students making the cut.

Skadden Fellowships are very prestigious for public interest-minded students, so it's not surprising that top schools tend to dominate the list. The University of California at Los Angeles School of Law has three incoming fellows, and Stanford Law School; Georgetown University Law Center; the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School; and the University of Michigan each have one as well. But there are a few less-prestigious law schools that also had students named as Skadden Fellows. Northeastern University School of Law has two incoming fellows, while Rutgers Law School and the University of Tulsa College of Law have one. Well done

Extra Credit Reading

Barbara Lentz, a former legal writing professor at Wake Forest University School of Law, has sued alleging that she was discriminated against when the school failed to renew her teaching contract this fall.

Students at Seattle University School of Law and the University of Minnesota Law School are the latest to push for the addition of gender-neutral bathrooms on campus.

One young lawyer's warning about the need to take care of yourself in this demanding profession.

Thanks for reading Ahead of the Curve. Sign up for the newsletter and check out past issues here. I'll be back next week with more news and updates on the future of legal education. Until then, keep in touch at [email protected]