Respect for Diversity: The Case of Feminist Legal Thought

Respect for diversity was one quality many faculty members considered significant when searching in 1987 for a new dean of the University of Michigan School of Law. Yet other so-called elite law schools and less prestigious institutions recently have evinced little concern for diversity and even indifference toward the idea. Tenure and appointment disputes at several Ivy League schools have sparked heated controversy and call into question their institutional commitments to diversity. Those disputes have involved the legitimacy of work by women in legal theory and feminist legal thought, although considerable contentious activity also seems to reflect a general lack of respect for diversity. The controversies now appear to be increasing in number and intensity, while they particularly threaten what progress has been made in securing women\u27s full participation in the legal academy. It is important, therefore, to discuss the disputes candidly and to search for solutions to the problems raised