A Salon article by four law professors of color raises very serious questions about Solicitor General Elena Kagan’s weak hiring record as the 11th Dean of Harvard Law School. There she presided over an extensive hiring program, but only one faculty member of color was hired:
Of these 32 tenured and tenure-track academic hires, only one was a minority. Of these 32, only seven were women. All this in the 21st Century.
She is rumored to be President Obama’s choice for the current Supreme Court vacancy. Whether that is true or not, she is in the final list. And her very weak commitment to diversity there at HLS, where she has significant power to bring diversity change, signals that the mostly white folks who seem to be advising the president on such critical matters are operating in a business as usual fashion. Placement of someone like her on the court will likely assist in its rightward movement.
Thanks for the post, Joe. Not to sound like I’m trying to defend her, but aren’t hires decided by committee? (Nate Silver discusses this at 538.com if anyone is interested.) After hearing an exchange between Kagan and CJ Roberts it’s easey to understand why libs might be worried she’ll get ignored by the cons on the court, and be unable to build coalitions for the lib causes. Let’s face it: it comes down to trusting the Prez’s judgment on this one.