YLS Philly Statement Letter 040722
YLS Philly Statement Letter 040722
YLS Philly Statement Letter 040722
We write in response to the deeply disturbing incident that took place on your campus on March 10,
2022.
Yale’s Federalist Society student chapter invited Alliance Defending Freedom General Counsel Kristen
Waggoner to participate in a bipartisan panel discussing her recent successful argument before the U.S.
Supreme Court in the free speech case, Uzuegbunam v. Preczewski. Ms. Waggoner, along with her co-
panelist Monica Miller of the American Humanist Association and the event’s moderator, Professor Kate
Stith, were met by a vitriolic mob of Yale Law students intent on silencing them. The students engaged
in physical intimidation and menacing behavior that has no place anywhere, let alone in a classroom at
Yale Law School.
The purpose of the panel, according to a member of the Federalist Society, 1 was to show that two
lawyers on opposite sides of the political and ideological spectrum can find common ground on free
speech issues. The panel modeled the best of what Yale has to offer and what our society desperately
needs: less vitriol, less polarization, less demonizing of opponents, and more respectful debate and
dialogue among people who have deep disagreements.
But instead of engaging with the panelists, a shocking number of Yale Law students hurled constant
insults and obscenities at them and tried to prevent them from speaking and being heard.
This appalling example of a heckler’s veto degenerated further when numerous disruptors left the room
and congregated in the hallway where they “began to stomp, shout, clap, sing, and pound the walls,
making it difficult to hear the panel.” 2 Their shameful conduct disrupted nearby classes, exams, and
faculty meetings as well. It has been reported that some of these unruly students “grabbed and jostled”
Federalist Society members in the hallways. 3 In the end, the situation was so volatile that Ms. Waggoner
and her fellow panelist had to be escorted to a police car by law enforcement.
Undoubtedly, it is to prevent situations exactly like this that Yale adopted campus free speech policies.
One such policy bars any protest that “interferes with speakers’ ability to be heard and of community
1
Aaron Sibarium, Hundreds of Yale Law Students Disrupt Bipartisan Free Speech Event (March 16, 2022),
https://freebeacon.com/campus/hundreds-of-yale-law-students-disrupt-bipartisan-free-speech-event/
2
Id.
3
Id.
members to listen.” 4 Yet, according to media reports, the nearly 120 demonstrators who directly
violated this policy have yet to suffer any disciplinary consequences.
Yale’s statement in response to these media reports defended the student disruptors and grossly
downplayed the chaos they wrought. 5 Paradoxically, the statement also cites the university’s supposed
“bedrock commitment” to free speech. 6 Yale knows perfectly well that neither the panelists, nor the
moderator, a Yale professor, were able to speak freely (as multiple audio clips prove). 7
Indeed, a review of video and audio clips led Yale Law School graduate and legal commentator David Lat
to update his original reporting. Mr. Lat wrote that “[t]he disruption was much worse than I originally
reported” and that “[t]he event was significantly disrupted, even if it wasn’t totally canceled… and
managed to limp to a conclusion.” 8 Mr. Lat also noted the students’ raucous behavior disrupted classes,
tests, and faculty meetings. He recounts that students in another class reported that “the floor was
shaking” and that their professor told them to “yell” when called upon so they could be heard. 9 In its
statement, Yale Law officials also said—wrongly—that a police presence was not needed, apparently
trying to appease the two-thirds of the Yale Law students who signed a letter complaining that police
got involved in what the students misrepresented as a “peaceful” dialogue. 10
It is also notable that the students involved cited the Southern Poverty Law Center’s discredited,
divisive, and politically-motivated “hate group” map in its attacks against Ms. Waggoner and others. 11
4
Id.
5
We acknowledge Dean Gerken’s subsequent statement issued March 28. See https://law.yale.edu/yls-
today/news/message-dean-gerken-march-10-protest. However, it does not satisfy our concerns. Among other
things, it continues to downplay the students’ unruly behavior, implicitly suggests that their treatment of the
panelists was understandable, and raises serious doubts about Yale Law School’s stated intention to cultivate a
free speech culture.
6
Ronny Reyes and Natasha Anderson, Yale Law refuses to condemn students who threatened to fight conservative
debater at free speech event: Says staff are having a 'serious conversation' with them about 'expectations' when
dealing with people 'inconsistent with our values', The Daily Mail (March 17, 2022),
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10625581/Yale-Law-DEFENDS-students-shouted-Ill-fight-b-tch-
conservative-debater.html .
7
https://vimeo.com/adfmedia/review/689497749/08bb24ab34;
https://vimeo.com/adfmedia/review/689497918/64a46d50ea
8
David Lat, Is Free Speech In American Law Schools A Lost Cause?, Original Jurisdiction (March 17, 2022, Update
March 18, 2022), https://davidlat.substack.com/p/is-free-speech-in-american-law-schools?s=r.
9
Id.
10
Open Letter to YLS Administrators on Police Presence in SLB (March 12, 2022), https://freebeacon.com/wp-
content/uploads/2022/03/Open-Letter-to-YLS-Administrators-on-Police-Presence-in-SLB.pdf.
11
Commentators, journalists, and former SPLC employees across the ideological spectrum have been warning for
decades that the SPLC is a thoroughly discredited, partisan, and unreliable organization. See Nathan J. Robinson,
The Southern Poverty Law Center Is Everything That’s Wrong With Liberalism, Current Affairs (Mar. 26,
2019), https://www.currentaffairs.org/2019/03/the-southern-poverty-law-center-is-everything-thats-wrong-with-
This is not the first time that SPLC’s deeply ideologically partisan and demagogic shenanigans have
played a role in prompting disorderly and physically dangerous actions. For example, students cited SPLC
statements as a reason they rioted and assaulted a female professor at Middlebury College in 2017. 12
And outside the campus setting, Floyd Corkins cited SPLC claims as motivation for his attempted mass
murder at the Family Research Council in 2012. 13
Yale should be concerned about SPLC’s rhetoric causing threatening and violent behavior on college
campuses, which it has now experienced firsthand. Aspiring lawyers could derail their promising careers
if they are motivated by SPLC propaganda to engage in acts of disruption, intimidation, and worse.
Indeed, that prospect is already at Yale’s doorstep. According to Reuters, a federal appeals court judge
sent an email to all federal judges urging them to think twice before hiring any Yale student who
participated in the threatening and speech-censoring activities on March 10: “All federal judges – and all
federal judges are presumably committed to free speech – should carefully consider whether any such
student so identified should be disqualified for potential clerkships.” 14
The Wall Street Journal editorial board highlighted this statement on March 20, adding that “these are
adults, not college sophomores. They are law students who will soon be responsible for protecting the
rule of law… If these students are so blinkered by ideology that they can’t tolerate a debate over civil
liberties on campus, the future of the American legal system is in jeopardy.” 15
Dean Gerken, we urge you to take concrete action to correct the course of Yale Law School. Our nation
desperately needs the next generation of attorneys, legislators, judges, and Supreme Court justices to
be marked by the character and values that undergird the American legal profession and a free society.
liberalism; Shikha Dalmia, The Sad Hysteria of the Southern Poverty Law Center, The Week (March 20, 2018),
http://theweek.com/articles/759498/sad-hysteria-southern-poverty-law-center; Ben Schreckinger, Has a Civil
Rights Stalwart Lost Its Way?, Politico (July/August 2017), https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/06/28/
morris-dees-splc-trump-southern-poverty-law-center-215312/; Bob Moser, The Reckoning of Morris Dees and the
Southern Poverty Law Center, The New Yorker (March 21, 2019), https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-
desk/the-reckoning-of-morris-dees-and-the-southern-poverty-law-center.
12 Ronald Radosh, Liberal Intolerance Revives as Charles Murray Is Chased From Middlebury College, The Daily
What happened at Yale Law School on March 10, 2022 was disgraceful. But it creates an opportunity for
you to send a clear message to the country about the importance of free speech and civil discourse. We
ask that you take the following actions:
1) Commit to your own students and others that Yale Law School administrators will use their best
efforts to protect and cultivate a culture of free speech on campus.
2) Commit to ensuring that speakers with diverse views are welcome at Yale.
3) Condemn the behavior of students who violated other people’s rights on March 10 and take
appropriate disciplinary actions in keeping with Yale’s free speech policies.
4) Retract and/or issue corrections to Yale Law School’s initial statement concerning the events of
March 10.
We thank you for your consideration and welcome any follow-up conversation you would find
beneficial.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
The Honorable Ted Cruz The Honorable Mike Lee Governor Bill Lee
U.S. Senate U.S. Senate State of Tennessee
Governor Tate Reeves Attorney General Lawrence Wasden Attorney General Todd Rokita
State of Mississippi State of Idaho State of Indiana
Attorney General Mark Brnovich Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg Attorney General Chris Carr
State of Arizona State of South Dakota State of Georgia
Attorney General Dave Yost Attorney General Sean Reyes Attorney General Herbet H. Slatery III
State of Ohio State of Utah State of Tennessee
Attorney General Leslie Rutledge Attorney General Austin Knudsen Attorney General Treg Taylor
State of Arkansas State of Montana State of Alaska
Attorney General Alan Wilson Attorney General Steve Marshall Attorney General Jeff Landry
State of South Carolina State of Alabama State of Louisiana
Attorney General Daniel Cameron Attorney General Lynn Fitch Attorney General John O’Connor
State of Kentucky State of Mississippi State of Oklahoma
Attorney General Patrick Morrisey Attorney General Eric Schmitt Attorney General Jason Miyares
State of West Virginia State of Missouri State of Virginia
Attorney General Derek Schmidt Attorney General Ken Paxton Attorney General Doug Peterson
State of Kansas State of Texas State of Nebraska
Attorney General Ashley Moody The Honorable Andy Biggs The Honorable Mary E. Miller
State of Florida U.S. House of Representatives U.S. House of Representatives
The Honorable Tim Burchett The Honorable Mike Johnson The Honorable Benjamin S. Carson, Sr. M.D.
U.S. House of Representatives Congressman from Louisiana American Cornerstone Institute
Founder & Chairman
The Honorable Bob Good The Honorable Tim Burchett
U.S. House of Representatives U.S. House of Representatives The Honorable Brian Babin
U.S. House of Representatives
The Honorable Ralph Norman The Honorable Louie Gohmert
U.S. House of Representatives U.S. House of Representatives The Honorable Paul S. Teller, Ph.D.
Advancing American Freedom
Dr. Kevin Roberts Dr. Jordan B. Peterson Ayaan Hirsi Ali
President, Heritage Foundation Clinical Psychologist, Author Hoover Institution, AHA Foundation