{"id":117012,"date":"2025-04-29T15:38:54","date_gmt":"2025-04-29T23:38:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/04\/29\/harvard-law-students-hit-with-invitation-to-lie-on-their-law-review-personal-statements-professors-should-speak-out-on-it\/"},"modified":"2025-04-29T15:38:54","modified_gmt":"2025-04-29T23:38:54","slug":"harvard-law-students-hit-with-invitation-to-lie-on-their-law-review-personal-statements-professors-should-speak-out-on-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/04\/29\/harvard-law-students-hit-with-invitation-to-lie-on-their-law-review-personal-statements-professors-should-speak-out-on-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Harvard Law Students Hit With Invitation To Lie On Their Law Review Personal Statements, Professors Should Speak Out On It"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

University of Michigan isn\u2019t the only T14 getting harassed by FASORP. As if getting singled out by Supreme Court cases<\/a> and Executive Orders<\/a> wasn\u2019t enough, Harvard recently had to deal with the spite group emailing their 1Ls as they prepare for the arduous write on process. While the Harvard Law School dean made a point of not drawing unnecessary attention to the messages that circulated, chances are its the same ones FASORP sent to UMichigan. The Crimson<\/a> has coverage: <\/p>\n

\n

Harvard Law School Dean of Students Stephen L. Ball condemned a pair of mass emails sent to law students on Friday that accused the Harvard Law Review of discriminating against white authors and urged applicants to falsify their racial and gender identities on application materials.<\/p>\n

Ball called both messages \u201cdisturbing\u201d and one of them \u201chateful\u201d in a Saturday email to the HLS student body.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

To summarize, the disturbing message likely threatened all students to preserve their personal statements to be used as evidence<\/a> in a future lawsuit and the second advocated for law students to, among other things, cross dress and pretend to be trans<\/a> from now until the Law Review selection process is over to better their odds. <\/p>\n

It would be one thing if FASORP was comprised of a bunch of scorned twenty somethings that are hellbent on revenge because they didn\u2019t get the Law Review seat they felt they were entitled to. But the F in FASORP<\/a> stands for faculty. At the time of writing, membership in the group is anonymous. That\u2019s unfortunate \u2014 because every professor that is a member of FASORP that hasn\u2019t stepped up to condemn a multi-institutional attempt at encouraging law students to lie on their personal statements in the hopes of getting ahead in the Law Review selection process should have their academic integrity questioned for tacitly approving of what at minimum should be some sort of honor code violation. Because that\u2019s what FASORP\u2019s cutesy strategy would amount to, if taken seriously.<\/p>\n

As far as the students are concerned, don\u2019t be oblivious to the coffee without cream vs. coffee without milk<\/a> problem FASORP is inviting you to disavow. FASORP\u2019s cowardly \u201cHey, there\u2019s no harm in being a fraud just in case!\u201d is their way of dancing around what should be a character and fitness issue. Put simply, if you can square your willingness to commit an honor code violation as some harmless error because you think the game is rigged, that cuts against your merit \u2014 GPA and write on score be damned. Is lying to get ahead really what you want to rest your prestige on?<\/p>\n

FASORP\u2019s attacks against University of Michigan were poorly executed. They involved a lot of speculation about how personal statements could be used for discriminatory ends. There were other problems \u2014 they didn\u2019t appear to read the evaluative criteria for selection<\/a> before they whined about not being chosen and there\u2019s no escaping that the trolling above is in bad faith<\/a>. But it would feel wrong to not at least acknowledge there may be other issues at case. The Washington Free Beacon recently shared what they described as internal documents<\/a> that show proof of Harvard Law review staff using DEI principles in their process of determining which articles submitted to the journal should be published. It also isn\u2019t exactly clear how the Review\u2019s holistic review committee that made diversity and inclusion its \u201cfirst priority\u201d in 2021 has operated since the Supreme Court ruled affirmative action unconstitutional in 2023. That said, as interesting as the Free Beacon article is, it is largely focused on the behavior of Harvard Law review members after<\/em> they\u2019ve been selected, not the selection process itself.<\/p>\n

To the students at Harvard preparing for the write on process: do your best as you are<\/em>. You could try and cut corners or skew things in your favor by lying to get ahead, but it comes with a moral cost.<\/p>\n

HLS Dean of Students Condemns \u2018Disturbing\u2019 Mass Emails Sent to Students After Law Review Controversy<\/a> [The Crimson]<\/p>\n

Exclusive: Internal Documents Reveal Pervasive Pattern of Racial Discrimination at Harvard Law Review<\/a><\/p>\n

Earlier: Cringe Reverse Discrimination Group Hijacks Michigan Law Listserv To Ask Students To Sprinkle A Little Fraud In Their Personal Statements<\/a><\/p>\n

Totally Serious And Not Made-Up Group Hijacks Michigan Law Listserv To \u2018Preserve Evidence\u2019 And Expose \u2018Unworthy\u2019 Students<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord\u2122 in the Facebook group\u00a0Law School Memes for Edgy T14s<\/a>. \u00a0He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who is learning to swim,\u00a0is interested in critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at\u00a0cwilliams@abovethelaw.com<\/a>\u00a0and by tweet at\u00a0@WritesForRent<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Harvard Law Students Hit With Invitation To Lie On Their Law Review Personal Statements, Professors Should Speak Out On It<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

University of Michigan isn\u2019t the only T14 getting harassed by FASORP. As if getting singled out by Supreme Court cases<\/a> and Executive Orders<\/a> wasn\u2019t enough, Harvard recently had to deal with the spite group emailing their 1Ls as they prepare for the arduous write on process. While the Harvard Law School dean made a point of not drawing unnecessary attention to the messages that circulated, chances are its the same ones FASORP sent to UMichigan. The Crimson<\/a> has coverage: <\/p>\n

\n

Harvard Law School Dean of Students Stephen L. Ball condemned a pair of mass emails sent to law students on Friday that accused the Harvard Law Review of discriminating against white authors and urged applicants to falsify their racial and gender identities on application materials.<\/p>\n

Ball called both messages \u201cdisturbing\u201d and one of them \u201chateful\u201d in a Saturday email to the HLS student body.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

To summarize, the disturbing message likely threatened all students to preserve their personal statements to be used as evidence<\/a> in a future lawsuit and the second advocated for law students to, among other things, cross dress and pretend to be trans<\/a> from now until the Law Review selection process is over to better their odds. <\/p>\n

It would be one thing if FASORP was comprised of a bunch of scorned twenty somethings that are hellbent on revenge because they didn\u2019t get the Law Review seat they felt they were entitled to. But the F in FASORP<\/a> stands for faculty. At the time of writing, membership in the group is anonymous. That\u2019s unfortunate \u2014 because every professor that is a member of FASORP that hasn\u2019t stepped up to condemn a multi-institutional attempt at encouraging law students to lie on their personal statements in the hopes of getting ahead in the Law Review selection process should have their academic integrity questioned for tacitly approving of what at minimum should be some sort of honor code violation. Because that\u2019s what FASORP\u2019s cutesy strategy would amount to, if taken seriously.<\/p>\n

As far as the students are concerned, don\u2019t be oblivious to the coffee without cream vs. coffee without milk<\/a> problem FASORP is inviting you to disavow. FASORP\u2019s cowardly \u201cHey, there\u2019s no harm in being a fraud just in case!\u201d is their way of dancing around what should be a character and fitness issue. Put simply, if you can square your willingness to commit an honor code violation as some harmless error because you think the game is rigged, that cuts against your merit \u2014 GPA and write on score be damned. Is lying to get ahead really what you want to rest your prestige on?<\/p>\n

FASORP\u2019s attacks against University of Michigan were poorly executed. They involved a lot of speculation about how personal statements could be used for discriminatory ends. There were other problems \u2014 they didn\u2019t appear to read the evaluative criteria for selection<\/a> before they whined about not being chosen and there\u2019s no escaping that the trolling above is in bad faith<\/a>. But it would feel wrong to not at least acknowledge there may be other issues at case. The Washington Free Beacon recently shared what they described as internal documents<\/a> that show proof of Harvard Law review staff using DEI principles in their process of determining which articles submitted to the journal should be published. It also isn\u2019t exactly clear how the Review\u2019s holistic review committee that made diversity and inclusion its \u201cfirst priority\u201d in 2021 has operated since the Supreme Court ruled affirmative action unconstitutional in 2023. That said, as interesting as the Free Beacon article is, it is largely focused on the behavior of Harvard Law review members after<\/em> they\u2019ve been selected, not the selection process itself.<\/p>\n

To the students at Harvard preparing for the write on process: do your best as you are<\/em>. You could try and cut corners or skew things in your favor by lying to get ahead, but it comes with a moral cost.<\/p>\n

HLS Dean of Students Condemns \u2018Disturbing\u2019 Mass Emails Sent to Students After Law Review Controversy<\/a> [The Crimson]<\/p>\n

Exclusive: Internal Documents Reveal Pervasive Pattern of Racial Discrimination at Harvard Law Review<\/a><\/p>\n

Earlier: Cringe Reverse Discrimination Group Hijacks Michigan Law Listserv To Ask Students To Sprinkle A Little Fraud In Their Personal Statements<\/a><\/p>\n

Totally Serious And Not Made-Up Group Hijacks Michigan Law Listserv To \u2018Preserve Evidence\u2019 And Expose \u2018Unworthy\u2019 Students<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord\u2122 in the Facebook group\u00a0Law School Memes for Edgy T14s<\/a>. \u00a0He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who is learning to swim,\u00a0is interested in critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at\u00a0cwilliams@abovethelaw.com<\/a>\u00a0and by tweet at\u00a0@WritesForRent<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Harvard Law Students Hit With Invitation To Lie On Their Law Review Personal Statements, Professors Should Speak Out On It<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

University of Michigan isn\u2019t the only T14 getting harassed by FASORP. As if getting singled out by Supreme Court cases and Executive Orders wasn\u2019t enough, Harvard recently had to deal with the spite group emailing their 1Ls as they prepare for the arduous write on process. While the Harvard Law School dean made a point […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":117013,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Williams-620x620-5UBBa6.jpeg?fit=620%2C620&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117012\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}