Is The DEI Juice Worth The Squeeze?
Watching Judge Kyle Duncan’s experience at Stanford Law School brought me back to my protest at the CUNY Law School. The CUNY students refused to let me speak. They interrupted me with crass comments and invective. And after they finished protesting, they stormed out of the room–none were actually interested in what I had to say. But there was one big difference between 2018 and 2023. At CUNY, an associate Dean intervened and warned the students not to interrupt me. The Dean did not go on a lengthy rant about how awful my views were. Now, granted, after the Dean left the room, she did nothing to actually stop the disruptions. But at least at CUNY, circa 2018, the administration could still be distinguished from the hecklers. Not so at Stanford Law School. If you haven’t already, read David Lat’s excellent summary of the event. (I am deeply grateful that David exhumed himself from the now-moribund Above The Law; subscribe to his Subtack and support his vital work.)
Here, I’d like to focus on the remarks of Tirien Steinbach, the SLS Associate Dean for DEI. A common theme she repeated was whether Judge Duncan’s visit justified the harm he was causing to the community. Steinbach asked, Is the juice worth the squeeze?
Steinbach: I’m also uncomfortable because it is my job to say: You are invited into this space. You are absolutely welcome in this space. In this space where people learn and, again, live. I really do, wholeheartedly welcome you. Because me and many people in this administration do absolutely believe in free speech. We believe that it is necessary. We believe that the way to address speech that feels abhorrent, that feels harmful, that literally denies the humanity of people, that one way to do that is with more speech and not less. And not to shut you down or censor you or censor the student group that invited you here. That is hard. That is uncomfortable. And that is a policy and a principle that I think is worthy of defending, even in this time. Even in this time. And again I still ask: Is the juice worth the squeeze?
Duncan: What does that mean? I don’t understand…
Judge Duncan’s confusion is warranted. He was there to talk about actual decisions of his court, and how those cases affected Supreme Court jurisprudence. Students attend an elite institution like Stanford to learn firsthand from luminaries like sitting federal judges. How could those comments possibly not be worth Duncan’s presence on campus? If students did
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