Posted on 11/16/2005 11:28:36 AM PST by Caroll24
Date: November 16th, 2005 2:05 AM Author: sparse Subject: Yale law secret society
I'm a 2L at YLS and I'm completely fed up with something that I think very few people know about (or at least very few people talk about). Despite the treadmill promises, it becomes obvious after a short time here that there are more selections to be made: who gets in with Guido or Fiss, who knows the most people (helps when journal elections happen), who is going to run for office eventually, etc. This is endlessly frustrating, not to mention counter to everything this place claims to be about. But that's not the real problem. The real problem is that there is a secret society in the law school. It's easy to dismiss it as juvenile and elitist, but the problem is that it significantly affects one's time here. If you are in it, it makes it A LOT easier to get positions, recs, etc. This is particularly true of getting recommendations from profs who went to YLS (which is pretty endemic). What's strange is that some people know about it the second they get on campus, while others seem to go through the entire three years completely oblivious to its existence. It is probably less important (or at least less institutionally secure) than Skull and Bones, but it's the same sort of deal and it's ridiculous. Aren't people here adult enough to know how stupid this sort of thing is? Is it really worth it for some marginal increase in your job prospects?
I'm pretty sure it's a well-kept secret, though I would say it's quite easy to know who's in it if you ask around. Of course it tends to be the good looking students who are going to go into politics. This leads me to my final point. From what I understand you basically have to be liberal to get in. Despite its reputation, Yale actually has a pretty significant conservative population, and it's so preposterous that this group perpetuates the concentration of influence in the hands of the school's liberal wing.
Sorry for that rant. Do any other YLS students here know what I'm talking about? Also, does anyone know what it's actually called? I've heard it's something 'staple', but that name seems too idiotic to be true. I hope I get selected so i can destroy it from within.
....
Date: November 16th, 2005 1:42 PM Author: Contractual Subject: Interesting Stuff
I'm a 1L at Yale (longtime lurker) and this kinda jives with something I heard a few months ago from a 3L. We were walking by Scroll and Key and I mentioned how it's surprising that Yale has so many secret societies for undergrads but none in the law school. He sneered at that comment, and when I asked him what was bothering him he said "just because you don't see a building doesn't mean there isn't one." He then suggested that there was a clique of individuals, all of them liberal, who get all the top awards and positions in the law school.
I was and still am skeptical (especially considering how it doesn't seem to fit the egalitarian, anti-elitism posture of YLS), but it is curious how so many accolades at the law school seem to be distributed over a very small set of persons (as was evidence in the e-mail sent out announcing the previous year's awards) and all of them seem to track to the left. ...
Did you attend or what did you hear about this?
Worth a turn paper, IMO.
Welcome to FR. Now that you've posted about it, it's not a secret anymore. Mission Accomplished. Congratulations.
How long before the mods pull this thread in accordance with the non-disclosure agreements they have with all the secret societies out there?
Nice paper. Do you know the secret handshake?
Could be fake, a false conversation created by the newbie.
Welcome to Free Republic!
Start your own Conservative Secret Society.
Sounds like "Protocols of the Elders of New Haven".
Hmmmm, I wonder...?
[Makes a double turn of the thumb and forefinger of the left hand, down at pocket level, almost as a nervous tic...and looks to see if interlocutor has same "nervous tic"]
[He doesn't.]
Nah, those "secret society" things are just student paranoia.
I'm in a secret society at UH Law. It is comprised of chronic underachievers and all-around subpar students. We have a monopoly on not getting good jobs. We have our meetings in the parking lot, and someone has to bring Twinkies.
Some go their entire academic careers without hearing about us. We call these lost souls "Good Students." Those who do know us of live in constant fear of joining our ranks.
You have just joined the ultimate secret society.
Are they affiliated with the Skull & Boners?
That's absolutely untrue...UH Law has a good program, which many a graduate has obtained a good job...now pass a twinkie, and quit parking in my space.
I don't see any evidence suggesting that there is any sort of organized "secret society" at Yale Law. Sounds more like an informal network of people who share the same views as the majority of professors (i.e. left-leaning), and therefore get the best grades, and hence get on law review/journals, and get the best recommendations from profs. In case you haven't noticed, this is the case at virtually every U.S. post-secondary institution. If you don't toe the PC line, you'll be frozen out of the left-leaning power structure. They don't NEED a "secret society" to accomplish this, and if they do in fact have one, I doubt it provides any advantage beyond what the obviously present informal leftist network provides.
Oh, I know UH has a good program, even if the building is hideous. But there are, in fact, some bad students, of which I am one. I have no doubt that those who do well will secure great positions. I may have to end up as the next "Are you hurt? Call me today!" type of lawyers.
dont let it frustrate you....excellence is its own benchmark
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.