Before you feel anxiety about your grades, think about the following…
Former Dean Elena Kagan received several B’s during law school, especially her first year. She went on to become the first female dean of Harvard Law
School, the U.S. Solicitor General, and the 112th Supreme Court Justice.
HLS Tax Law Professor Halperin received his worst law school grade in: tax.
Dean Cosgrove received a Property exam back that had a note from the professor saying “this is exactly what I warned you not to do” – followed by her
lowest grade since kindergarten. She went on to work at a top law firm before becoming a Dean at Harvard.
At the time Judge Posner hired Professor Sitkoff to be his law clerk, Professor Sitkoff had received his lowest grade in law school in Law and Economics
– which had been taught by Judge Posner. Thereafter, he had one grade that was worse – in legal ethics. He graduated law school with High Honors.
Professor Singer earned a B- in Property. After graduating, he clerked, worked at a law firm, and has written one of the leading casebooks and treatises
on – wait for it – property. He has also authored two theoretical books on property and teaches Property courses at Harvard.
Professor Suk received her worst grade in law school – and ever – in Criminal Law. She went on to practice and research in Criminal Law. No employer
has ever asked about her grade, and her Criminal Law professor has remained a powerful mentor and reference for her throughout her career. “I care
much more about students’ preparation and performance in a course throughout a long semester than about performance on one timed exam taken on
one day,” she says.
Professor Michelman’s worst law school grade was a C+ in Property. He has written and published repeatedly in the field and has taught Property
courses at Harvard for over 40 years.
Professor Greiner received his worst grade on the exam he felt best about after finishing. And he nonetheless was retained as a research assistant for
the course’s professor.
Professor Scott got a D in constitutional law. “We do some of that here,” Justice White told Scott when he went for a clerkship interview. Scott
nonetheless was selected to serve as one of Justice White’s few Supreme Court law clerks.
Professor Meltzer’s father was a law professor who taught labor law. His lowest grade in law school was in: labor law. His labor law professor later said
to him, “I thought you might have done better, so I re-read your exam and it was every bit as bad as I thought it was the first time.”
Professor Ramseyer received a B on an exam at Harvard Law School and went into the professor’s office to complain. On the professor’s desk was a
plaque that guided his grading – he reserved B’s for “excellent, perceptive exams.” The professor told Ramseyer he had gotten a B because he “wrote
an excellent exam.”
In the second semester of his two-semester Contracts course, Professor Goldberg earned himself a B-. The next year, his former Contracts professor
hired him as a TA to help 1Ls with the class. Years later, as a Vanderbilt professor, Goldberg was awarded a teaching prize for teaching … Contracts.
Professor Barnes received a pass on his Trust and Estates exam while a friend whom he tutored received honors. Upon review of their exams,
Professor Barnes realized that his friend had given the obvious answers while he had read nuances into the questions that were not intended. He
learned two important lessons: 1) when you hear hoofbeats, think horses first, and not zebras and 2) the line between “honors” and “pass” is blurred.
“I know a guy who got mainly C’s his first year at HLS. He went on to become general counsel of a major federal agency, leading lawyer in his field, and
author of the leading casebook in his field. It is much more about the passion you have for your field than anything.” – Professor Einer Elhauge
Dean Martha Minow’s sister’s law school grades were so troubling during her first year that she never picked up her grades after that. Last year, she was
honored as a distinguished alum for her professional accomplishments, and no one even thought of her grades.
Professor Neuman’s first semester grades were quite mediocre and his criminal law teacher (Professor Nesson) told him that he didn’t know how to take
a law school exam. Neuman spent time with Professor Nesson learning how to take exams and revising his approach. Professor Neuman went on to
graduate first in his class at Harvard Law School, though no one asked about his grades when he ran for a seat on the UN Human Rights Committee.
Be well,
Your Harvard Law School Student Government
studentgov@mail.law.harvard.edu

Dean Minow will moderate the conversation today at 5pm in the Ames Courtroom.  Overflow seating will be available in Austin North, East, and West.

Please note:  space is limited in the courtroom as well as the overflow rooms. Seating will be available on a first come, first served basis and will begin at 4:00pm.  A Harvard ID will be required for admission to the lecture and no backpacks, cellphones, laptops, recording devices, cameras, food, or drink will be allowed in the courtroom or overflow rooms.

A reception will follow.

Hi-

One of the challenges in building an academic building is that you need to solicit student opinion on a variety of decisions several years in advance of a building’s opening. One such decision involves student mailboxes. (To be clear, this decision involves open mail slots used for stuffing announcements, not US mailboxes for dorm residents).

The architects made it clear that these mailboxes have become less and less common in new construction so we asked students to give us their views. The vast majority saw no need for mailboxes anymore so we have not built them into the new space. In our spot checks of the Pound mailboxes in the past few years, most are stacked high with leaflets from outside vendors. It does not appear that they are checked very often, if at all.

We planned to have one final year of mailboxes in the Pound basement but now that Pound will be going offline in the spring (in preparation for the demolition of the east side of the building), it seems to make less sense. So our plan is to discontinue mailboxes beginning with this academic year. Student organization mail will continue to come to our office, BSA, journal, and SPO mail will continue to go directly to those student offices.

If there is some reason that having a mailbox for this semester would be useful for to you, please email dos@law and we will provide mailboxes on request. Thanks.

One of the challenges in building an academic building is that you need to solicit student opinion on a variety of decisions several years in advance of a building’s opening.  One such decision involves student mailboxes.  (To be clear, this decision involves open mail slots used for stuffing announcements, not US mailboxes for dorm residents).

The architects made it clear that these mailboxes have become less and less common in new construction so we asked students to give us their views.  The vast majority saw no need for mailboxes anymore so we have not built them into the new space.  In our spot checks of the Pound mailboxes in the past few years, most are stacked high with leaflets from outside vendors.  It does not appear that they are checked very often, if at all.

We planned to have one final year of mailboxes in the Pound basement but now that Pound will be going offline in the spring (in preparation for the demolition of the east side of the building), it seems to make less sense.  So our plan is to discontinue mailboxes beginning with this academic year.  Student organization mail will continue to come to our office, BSA, journal, and SPO mail will continue to go directly to those student offices.

If there is some reason that having a mailbox for this semester would be useful for to you, please email dos@law and we will provide mailboxes on request.  Thanks.

Updated information in RED

To: LEMT Leaders – please distribute to your school/department’s staff as needed
Cc: Incident Support Team (IST)
Cc: Crisis Management Team (CMT)

Web EOC has been activated for the duration of the event and the move-in weekend.  Incident Name:  Hurricane Irene 2011   www.uos.harvard.edu/opscenter or https://harvard.webeocasp.com/harvard/default.aspx

Hurricane Irene Situation Report #2
August 25, 2011     8:45 PM

WEATHER UPDATE (NWS Briefing Slides Attached)

Hurricane Irene, a Category 3 storm currently located in the Bahamas, is expected to impact Massachusetts as early as this weekend.  The National Hurricane Center’s projected track is more westward than before with landfall between New York, NY and Newport, RI and passing through Massachusetts Sunday night and Monday morning as a Category 1 or 2 storm.  Irene is still several days out, however, and the projected track could potentially be off by as much as 130 miles and the projected timing by 6 to 8 hours.

Precipitation: Some isolated thunderstorms are possible tomorrow afternoon and evening.  Rains associated with Irene may begin as early as Saturday afternoon, with the bulk of precipitation coming Saturday night through Sunday night.  As much as 6 to 12 inches of rain are possible to the left of Irene’s track.

Winds: The most damaging winds will be located to the right of Irene’s track.  Winds in Massachusetts are forecast to be Category 1 (74-95mph) or Category 2 (95-110mph) but Category 3 (110-130mph) winds are not out of the question.  Exact timing of the arrival of damaging winds is highly dependent on Irene’s forward speed; Sunday through Sunday night are most likely, but an increase in Irene’s speed could bring significant winds as early as Saturday night.  There is also a risk that Irene may spawn tornadoes Saturday night into Sunday, especially in its northeastern quadrant.

HARVARD

Telecommunications
·         The Harvard Hotline (877.366.6606) is being redesigned from its pandemic-focus to a call-flow more appropriate for all emergencies.  It will be utilized as the central call triage system if needed.  Maria Apse will be reaching out to key contacts to make sure call-tree extensions are correct.

Environmental Health, Safety & Emergency Management
·         Monitoring weather and providing periodic updates
·         Uploaded Hurricane Safety Checklist for Faculty, Staff and Students to website – www.uos.harvard.edu/ehs
·         Emergency van is stocked and available for dispatch
·         Emergency Response Team on-call throughout the weekend.
·         Construction site contacts have been instructed to secure or remove items that could become projectiles in high winds.
·         Assisting contacts with the proper storage of hazardous waste.

Campus Services – Energy & Facilities
Pre-Storm Inspections (continuing through Saturday)
·         Inspecting E&U energy plants, steam manholes, sub-stations, and district storm water pumping stations to ensure storm readiness.
·         Performing inspections of steam tunnel water removal systems to ensure proper operations and storm readiness.
·         Confirm with local building management teams specific zones with high potential for flooding or wind damage and take preventive actions (i.e., relocate items, pre-position response equipment as required); Check and clear exterior drains and gutter systems; Deactivate all irrigation systems; Remove and secure all lawn furniture, flags and banners
·         Secure all exterior storage areas against high winds
·         Inspect and test sump pumps and alarms in buildings and utility tunnels
·         Inspect and fuel all department vehicles
·         Remind custodial and building management teams to close all windows
Response Equipment and Vendor Support Readiness
·         Emergency power generators inspected and fuel levels topped to 80%
·         Response equipment (sand bags, pumps and hoses) pre-positioned in known flood zones
·         Doubled normal inventory of pumps and hoses in our stockroom at 46 Blackstone Street
·         Confirmed availability of additional equipment resources with our primary MRO supply vendor (Grainger)
·         Confirmed communications protocols and readiness status with Fuel Oil vendors
·         Confirmed communication protocols and readiness status with Disaster Response vendors: BMS Cat, Able Restoration, ARS, ATI
·         Confirmed communication protocols and readiness status with primary Landscape support vendors (in event of large scale tree removals); Malpy Tree care, Hartney Greymont
Staffing Plans
·         Additional Building Maintenance, Landscape and Custodial staff will be in place all weekend to support Undergraduate Move-In activities.  Extra staffing and supervision from each of these groups as well as Fire Safety Services will remain on campus throughout Sunday evening and overnight into Monday (in some cases, dedicated to specific customer-requested areas).
·         Additionally, E&U Utility Operations (Electrical Distribution, Steam and Chilled Water distribution) and the University Operations Center will all have increased onsite staffing levels this weekend to support storm response activities.
·         All remaining Custodial, Maintenance, Landscape, Fire Safety, Electrical Distribution, and Utilities response crews and supervisors alerted to standby status.

Harvard University Police Department
·         Fully staffed and prepared to double the number of on-duty personnel if needed.

Sheltering
·         Schools and departments with residential housing have been asked to put there emergency shelter management teams on standby.
·         Facilities Maintenance Operations (FMO) is prepared to provide staff to setup shelters (cots, blankets, etc.) if needed

Hospitality & Dining Services
·         Ordering extra food and water
·         Ready to prepare cold food menus if power outages occur
·         Assessing staffing levels
·         Preparing facilities for extreme weather
·         Current schedule for dining hall openings is:
o   Cronchite is currently open
o   Thursday: Annenberg (starting at dinner)  – flexible hours depending on the weather
o   Friday: Hillel (starting at dinner), Currier (Breakfast and Lunch only), Winthrop (Breakfast and Lunch only), Quincy (Breakfast and Lunch only)
o   Saturday: Currier (full service), Winthrop (full service), Quincy (full service)
o   Saturday Dinner: all remaining dining halls open (except Dudley opens Monday)

Harvard College & FAS
·         Harvard College’s houses are opening early so that student can arrive ahead of the storm.  A message has been sent to Harvard College students informing them that they can arrive early.

NON – HARVARD
·         MWRA – Any dewatering occurring that discharges into MWRA’s system must STOP by 3:00PM Saturday August 27 due to the hurricane.  MWRA will follow up with Harvard on Mon the 29th as to when we may re-start any dewatering.
·         No parking bans or other restrictions from Boston and/or Cambridge at this time