Yale Law School is being accused of discriminating against conservative groups.
Aaron Haviland, a Yale Law student and Marine Corps veteran, recently revealed Yale Law School decided to remove funding from conservative students after a complaint by an LGBTQ group called Outlaws.
An email was sent on March 25th to Haviland after Outlaws claimed discrimination when the Yale Federalist Society invited an attorney from renowned Christian legal group, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), to speak about the Supreme Court case of Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips.
Haviland wrote in The Federalist the Outlaws also demanded the school “clarify” its admissions policies for conservative groups, stating students who work for religious or conservative public interest organizations during summer should not receive financial support.
The school agreed with the progressive group, removing funding for summer public interest fellowships, postgraduate public interest fellowships, and loan forgiveness for public interest careers for conservative students who work for organizations like the ADF.
The school’s Public Interest Committee stated, “The logic of our broader recommendation is that Yale Law School does not and should not support discrimination against its own students, financially or otherwise. Obviously, the Law School cannot prohibit a student from working for an employer who discriminates, but that is not a reason why Yale Law School should bear any obligation to fund that work, particularly if that organization does not give equal employment opportunity to all of our students.”
The school also thanked the LGBTQ organization for raising the issue.
“Without naming ADF, Yale has found a roundabout way to functionally blacklist them and other organizations that do not adhere to Yale’s progressive understanding of gender identity,” Haviland wrote. “Law students and graduates will still receive funding to work at organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union that defend abortion, for example. But if students and graduates want to work for ADF or other similarly situated religious or conservative organizations, they will get no help.”
In order for a Yale student to receive a summer public interest fellowship, the employer must ensure the school that they comply with Yale’s nondiscrimination policy. If not, the student will receive no financial support.
Yale’s action comes after President Trump recently signed an executive order protecting free speech on college campuses. Trump’s order ties the free speech policies to federal research dollars. So if the new issue receives attention from the federal government, Yale could lose federal funding. (It’ll probably never happen!)
