WU law students maintain rejection of anti-abortion group

http://www.stltoday.com/ ^ | 10/11/2002 | Susan C. Thompson

[BallandPowder]

Unmoved by criticism from a Philadelphia group and the urgings of its own dean, the student government at Washington University's law school is standing by two previous votes to deny recognition to an anti-abortion student group.

At a hastily organized meeting at the law school Thursday, the Student Bar Association, as the governing body is called, aired once again the pros and cons of approving the Law Students Pro-Life group.

[BallandPowder]

Powder..Patch..Ball FIRE!

Now it is public! Washington University should be ashamed of their student goverment!

And I'll bet they lose the lawsuit that'll be coming along soon also!

[E. Pluribus Unum]

"We appear to have stomped our foot down and said there's only one ideologically and politically appropriate way to behave," he said.

That is actually a pretty good definition of the PC-version of the word "tolerance."

[Hobsonphile]

Bump for later ping.

[Desdemona]

Joel Seligman, dean of the law school, was first to speak at Thursday's meeting. He said the SBA's decision to deny Law Students Pro-Life had done "some real damage to the reputation of this school," especially among prospective students.

Yep. Wash U has a massive image problem to begin with here at home. This is not going to help.

This is one alum who's checkbook is closed.

[FreeTally]

A recurrent theme was that Law Students Pro-Life was a single-issue group and that recognizing it would obligate the SBA to recognize other groups with narrow political agendas.

Uh, I would veture to say that most of the "groups" th SBA recognizes have very narrow political agendas.

[BallandPowder]

Powder..patch..ball FIRE!

This is one alum who's checkbook is closed.

Have you called them and told them why?

[Desdemona]

Have you called them and told them why?

Not as yet. Actually, penning a letter to the chancellor and a few members of the board of trustees in this case will be far more effective. They're obsessed with image.

[longtermmemmory]

Something must be wrong with the admissions committee. How did these pro-life/anti-choice/anti-abortion believers get past the admissions thought police.

I wonder how may law school graduates are republican?

[1L]

The SBA at most law schools is a joke.

[TheEngineer]

I went to Washington Univ. for my first year in college. Despite its location in St. Louis, the student body has a large East Coast liberal component. The dean is wrong... They have much more than an "image" problem. It's more like a "reality" problem. What happened there doesn't surprise me a bit, except for maybe the fact that it happened in the law school.

Luckily, I transferred to the Missouri School of Mines, and enjoyed the rest of my college career. Seems that the engineering universities are the last bastion of conservatism in our higher education system.

[GovernmentShrinker]

I suspect there's more to this story than we're hearing. For starters, how many students are active in this group which is seeking recognition? This law school has 225 students and already has 29 extra-curricular organizations -- perhaps the SBA is just trying to curtail a proliferation of tiny special interest groups. What other groups have been denied recognition over the past couple of years? Have other narrow-interest groups, like pro-choice or anti-death penalty, been turned down? The list of student organizations on the school's website reveals a Christian group (but no specifically Catholic or evangelical groups), a "Women's Law Caucus" (but no specifically feminist group), A chapter of the Federalist Society (but no Republican or Libertarian or "Conservative" groups), an Environmental Law group (but no Democratic or Libertarian or Socialist or Green Party groups, and thankfully no National Lawyer's Guild chapter), and no gay group.

[Desdemona]

Please, write to the following people at this address:

Washington University
One Brookings Drive
Campus Box ________
Saint Louis, Missouri 63130

Mark S. Wrighton, Chancellor
Chancellors Office Box 1192

for alumni (like me)
David T. Blasingame
Vice Chancellor for Alumni and Development Programs
Box 1101

M. Frederic Volkmann
Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs
Box 1177

John F. McDonnell
Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Box 1081

William H. Danforth
Chancellor Emeritus
Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Box 1081

David W. Kemper
Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Box 1081

Please see www.wustl.edu for the full list of the board of trustees. The Dean of the School of Law is in favor of allowing the group, so don't bug him, please.

I hope I didn't break any rules.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Actually, on further inspection it seems that there is a gay group, sort of, but it's called "OUTLAW" and doesn't specifically mention "gay" anywhere in its mission statement (probably the SBA insisted on a broad mission statement as a condition for recognition). However, the group is peeved because the law school had decided to allow military recruiters access to the school's career office, even though they "discriminate based on sexual orientation". Good for the law school! I'm very much in favor of EQUAL rights for gay people, but denying other students convenient access to military recruiters is totally inappropriate.

[Hobsonphile]

Leftism on Campus ping!

If you would like to be added to the Leftism on Campus ping list, please notify me via FReep-mail.

Regards...

[tinkercreek]

Some facts: Wash U Law school has around 700 students. Law Students Pro-Life met the conditions of the SBA's bylaws for recognition of new student groups. LSPL is the first student organization in the history of the school to meet these bylaws and not win recognition from the SBA.