The Schoolhouse Scribe

Should I Begin To Study For The MCAT OR GRE Exams?

Dear Readers (all three of you):

Two nights ago at around midnight I received the following email request by one of our fellow students:

Professor,

I just saw someone post about FIU’s drop in rankings on the main blog. Any comment about this? Does the administration plan on releasing a statement concerning the reasons for the drop and what they will do to improve next year? Many deans at other law schools have already begun releasing such statements. See http://www.abovethelaw.com/2008/03/the_us_news_rankings_law_schoo_1.php#more

Many FIU students are concerned.

After reflecting on the matter and speaking to several colleagues, the following are my thoughts on the subject. However, before I opine on this subject, I do want to put my views in perspective. First, I realize anything anyone writes can be questioned and criticized. I also realize that my intense yet quiet nature makes me someone that rarely has many approaching me for comfort. Nevertheless, I hope I have earned a certain level of credibility concerning my views, especially when they are in written form. Having said that, to the issue at hand.

I would agree with this student that it is reasonable to be concerned about this sort of troubling news. And while I do not yet know all of the reasons for the change in the rankings, I suspect the faculty and the administration will investigate the matter and have many conversations about the situation.

If my comments ended here, however, they would be woefully inadequate and simply out of character(long-winded nature that I have). I guess to be brutally honest, I too have to admit to a sense of sadness by this news for several reasons. The sadness is not only selfish, in terms of what such events mean to my own career paths, but also in terms of this community.

Notwithstanding the above, after spending some time engaging in self-pity, I look at several facts that put things in perspective. First, I think of my colleagues and know that if we can come together and address our challenges, there is simply too much talent here not to excel. I think of the amazing scholars and teachers I am associated with, and I feel a sense of pride and confidence even in the face of challenge. I think of Professors like Baker, Foley, Levitt, Markham, Waterhouse, Travis, Gabilondo, and Gruber, and I know we are outstanding(not to say that I wouldn’t fight with any or all of them on a moment’s notice). The reason I am confident in the above assessment is that I have had the good fortune over the last couple of years of considering joining a few schools, and when I have researched or visited them, I realized few if any of those faculties can come close to matching the above individuals.

Another basis for my confidence is the student body. At times I may feel the need to push them(my Remedies gang I suspect will soon come to understand the “Mr. Hyde” aspect of my personality). Yet I take such quiet pride and joy witnessing our students’ energy and sense of mission. Very few schools in America wish to or can look like us. We collectively know this fact and I firmly believe we will circle the wagons and work together to be great. I know it will be time for me to leave or retire when these views change. And as I can only speak for myself, I will commit to all of you that I will use my considerable energy to continue to assist us in our mission. And with the talent of our students and faculty, I believe we will continue to have much to be proud of. Remember, just to name a few of our achievements: we earned ABA accreditation in record time; our students have consistently excelled on the bar exam; we are currently applying to join the American Association of Law Schools(which will provide us considerable visibility concerning our scholarly excellence); our clinics are increasingly becoming recognized for their leadership in the community; and our trial skills and moot court teams have represented us exceeding well.

Having said that, we do face challenges. Below is a short list of things we can affect immediately: the administration needs to ensure that the positive word is reached to the local and national community; the students, faculty, and administration needs to be prepared to have frank conversations where all affected have a real sense of being stakeholders in this institution; all three of these constituent groups must work together to achieve our goals; the administration and faculty needs to ensure we continue to a fine job preparing our students for the excellence on the bar exam; the faculty and administration needs to ensure that the faculty continues to be productive, with no exceptions; all of us need to continue to attract outstanding student candidates and professors; the administration needs to do all within its power to ensure our outstanding faculty members remain at FIU; and finally, everyone of us must never forget the critical role that access and opportunity played in creating the FIU College of Law and how important it is to have such an institution continue to develop as a leader in the academy and the community.

These are no small tasks, but I firmly believe that if we act in good faith, there is yet to be a reason to focus your studies on the MCAT, GRE, or any other standardized exam(other than getting an early start on the Florida Bar Exam).

Signed,

Cautious, But Prepared

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BUT IS HE QUALIFIED?…. THERE IS JUST SOMETHING THAT MAKES ME FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE…

Earlier this evening I was watching a film that reminded me of the world of my youth. It was a world that included hope, but one that faced great fear and insecurity. Roughly forty years ago, when I was just a small lad, I remember family members having discussions of a war, of a bad economy, and of a general feeling of sadness associated with the loss of leaders. For instance, I can still remember a conversation between two adults about how one of them was able avoid something called the draft. Though just four years old at the time, I was able to discern that they were talking about military service. For the life of me, I just couldn’t understand why someone wouldn’t want to defend our country. It took me roughly twenty years to understand the answer that query. Along with the wonderful music of the era, that conversation is my memory of a time of challenge and of a time not too unlike today.

Though many leaders of that era were assassinated before I could begin to understand their importance, they nevertheless became my heroes. They reminded me of what we as a people could become. The geek that I am, I eventually started to collect inspirational messages by these and other leaders. One of my favorites was the Gettysburg Address by President Lincoln. Those beautiful and powerful aspirational and inspirational words of what this country could mature to, still gives me chills. Similarly, the optimism and call for responsibility by President Kennedy made me think, I too could one day do something of value.

When looking back at those times after watching the film Talk To Me, I see how much the world has changed. However, I also inevitably wind up asking myself: Has it really changed all that much? Despite all too often witnessing examples to justify my cynicism, and often wondering how can I possibly prevent that target from moving, recent events have reminded me of the hopeful times of my tender years.

Like the 1960s, the country is now embroiled in war and faces challenging economic prospects. However, unlike the 1960s, when racial minorities and women openly fought for equality in the face of hostile audiences, today we witness the possibility of a woman or an African American leading this country. Two years ago, I never would have believed it. In fact, two years ago I told a colleague that America was just not ready for such a possibility. Perhaps I was merely jaded by my own experiences. I am happy to think I may have been wrong.

Yet, my cynicism is resurrected when I hear slogans from as close as family members and as far as members of the media say things like “there is just something about him that I do not trust” or “ Is he qualified?” From my perspective, I am so proud that a woman and a black man are the candidates of a major political party. But by the same token, a part of me is sad that both cannot win (I know my idealism goes too far here). Yet when I hear questions about qualifications, I can’t but think of Presidents Washington, Kennedy, Truman, Reagan, and Bush (“W”). Could it be that I was right all along?

I also wonder when I hear of the power and at the same time the indecisiveness of Hispanic vote. I think of the importance of the issue of immigration reform to most within that group, and I ask myself: Do members of this group really know the candidates’ position on such a pivotal matte? One candidate recently changed his or her position to call for an enforcement-only approach to reform after initially leading the charge for comprehensive reform (Is that a flip or a flop?). Another takes a moderate and cautious approach to the issue. The third candidate was only one of two United States Senators taking part in the 2006 grass root efforts to promote legislation aimed at addressing all aspects of immigration reform. Perhaps other issues are more important to the Hispanic community than a popular culture movement that seeks to presumptively label all Hispanics, both citizens and aliens, as outsiders. What could they be?

When I hear the ever-so-slight concern that someone from “that group” can somehow jump ahead of “us” in the proverbial effort to be fully accepted, I am reminded of the old Caribbean saying: “Y tu abuelita, a donde esta?” Loosely translated, is means “And your grandmother, may I see a picture of her” This question is posed to the so-called European from the Caribbean, who may actually suffer from a form of false consciousness. This is not to say that every Hispanic that is troubled by a racial minority as president suffers from a form of racial bias. However, though I am personally somewhat torn between a maverick war-hero, an extraordinarily impressive and brilliant woman, and an equally impressive candidate that provokes the idealism and inspiration of my youth, I am reminded of the state of affairs this country is now in, and feel the dire need for optimism.

I have to admit that I struggled with whether I would write another scribe entry after my first caused one person to inform me how he or she “expected more from me,” then I realized that, thin-skin aside, I cannot let a sense of privilege by someone that is yet to be my professional equal, silence me. If I do, I begin to question: “Am I qualified?” Trust me when I say: “I am, and no identity construction or sense of entitlement can change that fact for either this writer or that candidate.”

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And I wanted to provoke you folks…

In my first installment to this site, I wanted to be trendy and provoke debate concerning the Hispanic vote in the national election. Yet recent law school events caused me to delay things a bit. To be specific, last week I learned of an issue between two students that allegedly involved some published attacks. While, as is the case with most rumors, the facts I received were a bit off the mark. I waited and hoped for an official statement or response. While I was pleased to learn that the Dean has addressed the matter, I still had few questions. The school’s newspaper, to its credit, shed considerable light by posting the students’ exchanges to this site.

I must admit that after reading the students’ posts , which evidently were originally on a TWEN site related to a class(interesting IP and first amendment questions relating to the removal the of the original entries) , I was saddened by how quickly the matter turned ugly. Perhaps I am too naive, but I had hoped, as fellow students of the law, we could vigorously and respectfully debate even painful matters. I guess some matters are just too difficult. I nonetheless remain hopeful, if not naive.

As for the resolution, I was pleased that in the Dean’s memorandum to the students, he tried to foster an appropriate tone for all our actions; and with respect to this incident, he stated that one of the students “has since expressed an apology which I believe to be sincere.” While I might have desired a public statement from one or both students, I understand the administration’s interest in resolving the matter fairly quickly. In any event, I certainly hope that the apology was made to the other student and not to some school official.

Signed,

My first, and perhaps last entry.

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