Law Schools

Another Group Of Law Students Thought It Was Okay To Rank Classmates Based On Their Looks -- This Time It's A T14 Law School

When the same crap is happening at two law schools in the same week -- a week when issues surrounding sexual assault and harassment are in the national spotlight -- you have to wonder: what the hell is going on?

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There’s an outbreak of dumb striking 1L men across the country — or at least New York. Earlier this week, we brought you the story of a bunch of jerk 1Ls at St. John’s Law ranking female classmates based on attractiveness.

Now we’ve gotten an email sent by the Dean to the law school community about the same thing happening at Cornell Law School. According to the Dean’s email, the administration got word of a private chat room where 1Ls were engaged in ranking women in the class based on looks. The faculty has had sessions with the 1L class discussing the seriousness of the issue and the school has opened up a Title IX investigation.

But when the same crap is happening at two law schools in the same week — a week when issues surrounding sexual assault and harassment are in the national spotlight — you have to wonder: what the hell is going on?

After the story about the same shit at St. John’s was published, I got a lot of reader mail. Normally, I’m immune to that BS — you can’t be a woman who works on the internet and not be — but I was struck by the number of reactions to the piece claiming this was harmless fun, just boys being boys, and that I was shaming law students over their sexuality. These are all… horrible takes.

First of all, don’t try to pretend this is some normal mating ritual, and those that are upset about it are prudes. This is men bonding over the objectification of women. Giving a classmate a perfect 10 in this disgusting ranking isn’t a way to start a relationship with them, it’s a way to show they’re only valued for the way they look.

See, when a group of students decides to rank their female classmates based on looks what they’re doing is stripping them of their brains, personality and anything that their eye can’t see. Then they assign a f*cking numeric value to what the see and judge their classmates — their peers — based on the most superficial of criteria. You’re in law school. These women you devalue in 1L year will be your colleagues. If this is how your relationship with women in the legal profession begins, it’s no surprise the lawyers are still dealing with sexual harassment and someone accused of sexual assault is about to ascend to the country’s highest Court. When women aren’t seen as real people but as accessories to rank or use at the whim of men, this is exactly what happens.

Anyway, now I’ll leave it to Dean Eduardo M. Peñalver to express his outrage that this is happening at his law school — he knows what’s up:

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Ranking women on their appearance is inherently degrading. It is also childish and unprofessional It treats women as less than equal members of our academic and professional community. It evinces a fundamental lack of respect that is contrary to the deepest held values of this institution and of the legal profession. Such behavior has no place at Cornell Law School. We take the situation very seriously and have referred the information we received to the University’s Title IX office for further investigation.

Cornell Law School is committed to providing all of our students with a welcoming and inclusive environment. We take pride in our culture of collegiality and mutual respect. But that culture is not self-sustaining. Its survival depends upon the choices we make on a daily basis. That includes the choice to engage in (to to refuse to engage in) behavior that undermines the dignity of members of our community; the choice to confront those who engage in such behavior; and the choice to remain silent.

When reached for comment, the law school provided this statement:

We received the reports about this matter. Ranking women or anyone on their appearance is inherently degrading, and contrary to the deepest held values of this institution and of the legal profession. We take the situation very seriously and have referred the information we received to the University’s Title IX office for further investigation.

Cornell Law School is committed to providing all of our students with a welcoming and inclusive environment. We take pride in our culture of collegiality and mutual respect. We have asked our students to support this effort, and are confident we will both sort through the facts in this situation and be able to work with the university to apply the appropriate remedies.

Thanks to the Dean for making the school’s position abundantly clear. To the 1Ls involved with this kind of BS, I have one piece of advice: STOP IT.

(Read the Dean’s full email below.)

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Dear Cornell Law School students:

Last week, we were told that a group of 1L men had created a private chat room in which they ranked 1L women based on their appearance. Upon receiving this troubling report, the Dean of Students asked Lawyering faculty as well as small-section instructors to discuss these allegations with their students and to communicate to their sections in no uncertain terms that, if they are true, the behavior may well violate University Policy 6.4, which prohibits (among other things) the creation of a hostile educational environment on the basis of sex.

Ranking women on their appearance is inherently degrading. It is also childish and unprofessional. It treats women as less than equal members of our academic and professional community. It evinces a fundamental lack of respect that is contrary to the deepest held values of this institution and of the legal profession. Such behavior has no place at Cornell Law School. We take the situation very seriously and have referred the information we received to the University’s Title IX office for further investigation.

Cornell Law School is committed to providing all of our students with a welcoming and inclusive environment. We take pride in our culture of collegiality and mutual respect. But that culture is not self-sustaining. Its survival depends upon the choices we make on a daily basis. That includes the choice to engage in (or to refuse to engage in) behavior that undermines the dignity of members of our community; the choice to confront those who engage in such behavior; and the choice to remain silent.

If you have any information that you think would be helpful to the ongoing inquiry, do not assume we already have it. Please share what you know with Dean Miner. You can also report information (including anonymously) through the University’s Bias Reporting System.

Respectfully,
Eduardo M. Peñalver
Allan R. Tessler Dean and Professor of Law

headshotKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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