Another bias incident at a law school? Yes, I know that law school is really just a microcosm of the “real world” and so you are as likely to find your share of all manner of unsavory people there as anywhere else, but it still doesn’t make it any less discouraging.
The latest incident took place at NYU Law, during a Bar Review event. Bar Review events are great, they let law students blow some steam off and actually get to know one another outside of the classroom. But there is alcohol, usually a lot of it, and that may have the unfortunate consequence of bringing some darker impulses to light. In this instance, the night out was sponsored by the SBA and OUTLaw. The NYU Law Commentator has an open letter from OUTLaw detailing the events:
We are writing to share with you an unfortunate incident that took place on Thursday evening. As you may know, a well-attended joint SBA-OUTLaw Bar Review took place at the gay bar Vodka Soda/Bottoms Up. At the end of the night, several NYU Law students were asked to leave the bar for inappropriate behavior; once outside, at least one began shouting “faggots” and “homos” from across the street toward the bar. The bar owner apparently kicked the remaining NYU Law students out of the bar and called the police.
Welp, that got dark pretty quickly. No one wants to be kicked out of a bar (not that I would know), but you should consider it a wake-up call that you are way drunker than you think you are and go home. What benefit does this law student think he is going to garner by screaming out these epithets? Is it supposed to make the owner reconsider letting him back into the bar? Make his law school bros proud of him? I don’t understand the end game here, but I suppose prejudice isn’t known for logic.
According to our tipster, the incident hasn’t received the attention it deserves, and they are hoping the spotlight will help:
Reportedly, the student denies the incident occurred despite having apologized to the bar owner for his behavior. I don’t really know whats going on here, but I wanted to point out that I chose to go to NYU Law on the premise that it was a top law school characterized by diversity. It’s in the Village for God’s fucking sake. Instead, I’ve found numerous diversity incidents which only get acted on when Above the Law shames us into recognizing our folly. So I’m hoping that you’ll be able to shame us into action again.
Earlier this week, OUTLaw held an event to discuss the incident, but the administration has yet to issue a statement. Hopefully those affected are able to reach a resolution which works for everyone involved.
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OUTLaw Calls for Community Meeting in Open Letter to Law School [NYU Law Commentator]