Will Harvard Law School Assist Former Trump Officials In Reputation Laundering?

New petition asks the law school not to hire folks associated with the Trump administration.

The Trump administration is definitively over now, and those involved are looking at a post-government service life. For many of the lawyers of the Trump admin, they’re looking to distance themselves from that experience. Biglaw might be part of those plans, if they can manage it. But another quick way to refresh the ol’ resume and come out smelling fresh and new is a quick stint in legal academia.

As the gold standard of elite schools, Harvard is a prime target for those looking for their next chapter — and remember Sean Spicer’s post-Trump career included not only a stop on Dancing With The Stars but also time at Harvard’s Kennedy School. But law school students and alumni are asking Harvard Law School to refuse to participate in the rehabilitation of reputations for those in the Trump administration:

Harvard Law School must refuse to serve as a tool to launder the reputations of those who crafted and enabled the Trump administration’s anti-democratic, anti-immigrant, racist, and morally reprehensible abuses. We call on Harvard to commit that it will not hire or affiliate with any senior official in the Trump administration or Congressional leader who was complicit in the administration’s immoral actions.

Harvard Law School must make a clear statement that people who condone and participate in anti-democratic, racist, xenophobic, and immoral practices have no home at Harvard.

Advocacy group People’s Parity Project spoke with several signatories of the petition about why it is so important for HLS to take a stand:

“At the start of the year, Dean Manning and the law school stated a commitment to ‘understanding and addressing the moral and legal crises confronting this nation.’ As we usher in a new presidential administration, the police presence around the Capitol building is just one stark reminder of the damage done by senior Trump officials and their supporters in Congress,” said Emma Leibowitz, a 1L at HLS. “To give Harvard’s seal of approval to anyone who attempted to subvert the democratic process, enact xenophobic and racist policies, and attack fundamental rights enshrined in our Constitution would demonstrate the insincerity of that commitment.”

Some pointed to the long-term damage of the January 6th insurrection and how that’d rub off on HLS:

“Harvard Law School has a choice. It can set an example in preventing future attacks on our democracy and creating a safe academic environment for people of all backgrounds,” says Beth Feldstein, a 3L at HLS. “Or it can abdicate its role and allow these officials back into polite legal society without consequence. If it does, it will be a blemish on the school’s history for generations to come.”

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While the family separation policy was paramount for others:

“The Trump administration undermined the democratic values and moral ideals that Harvard Law claims to hold as foundational,” said Kurt Walters, a 3L at HLS. “If Harvard calls itself an institution committed to justice, dignity, and respect, it must prevent the architects of policies that illegally tore immigrant families apart, rolled back the clock on civil rights, and demolished protections for workers from using the Harvard name to wipe themselves clean of the harm they wrought.”

Harvard Law School has yet to issue a statement responding to the petition, but they also haven’t offered their name to a former member of the Trump administration.


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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