Harvard removes black dean who barely joined Harvey Weinstein defense legal team! Still a law prof

☑︎#VoteDemocrat

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Bruh...he didn't even stay on the team!

They removed him AND his wife as undergraduate faculty deans...the FIRST ones...but theyre still law school professors :whoo:

This man literally was a legal genius and represented EVERYONE :wow:

They claim its because he had a "public facing role" at Harvard :gucci:

:mindblown:

:wow:





Harvard’s First Black Faculty Deans Let Go Amid Uproar Over Harvey Weinstein Defense

By Kate Taylor

May 11, 2019
Ronald S. Sullivan Jr. and Stephanie Robinson led Winthrop House to commencement in 2017. They were the first African-American faculty deans in Harvard’s history.Kayana Szymczak for The New York Times

merlin_154701582_674c9a30-3545-4a7c-9dd2-85bf4bff623a-articleLarge.jpg

Ronald S. Sullivan Jr. and Stephanie Robinson led Winthrop House to commencement in 2017. They were the first African-American faculty deans in Harvard’s history.Kayana Szymczak for The New York Times
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Harvard said on Saturday that a law professor who has represented Harvey Weinstein would not continue as faculty dean of an undergraduate house after his term ends on June 30, bowing to months of pressure from students.

The professor, Ronald S. Sullivan Jr., and his wife, Stephanie Robinson, who is a lecturer at the law school, have been the faculty deans of Winthrop House, one of Harvard’s residential houses for undergraduate students, since 2009. They were the first African-American faculty deans in Harvard’s history.


But when Mr. Sullivan joined the defense team of Mr. Weinstein, the Hollywood producer, in January, many students expressed dismay, saying that his decision to represent a person accused of abusing women disqualified Mr. Sullivan from serving in a role of support and mentorship to students. Mr. Weinstein is scheduled to go to trial in September in Manhattan on rape and related charges.

As the protests continued, with graffiti aimed at Mr. Sullivan appearing on a university building, Harvard administrators said they would conduct what they called a climate review of Winthrop House. In recent weeks, tensions have escalated, with a student sit-in and a lawsuit sparked by a clash between one of the protest leaders and two Winthrop House staff members who were seen as supporting Mr. Sullivan.

On Saturday, the dean of Harvard College, Rakesh Khurana, sent an email to students and staff members at Winthrop House, informing them that he would not renew the appointments of Mr. Sullivan and Ms. Robinson as faculty deans after their terms end on June 30. Mr. Khurana said in his email that the decision was informed “by a number of considerations.”

“Over the last few weeks, students and staff have continued to communicate concerns about the climate in Winthrop House to the college,” he wrote. “The concerns expressed have been serious and numerous. The actions that have been taken to improve the climate have been ineffective, and the noticeable lack of faculty dean presence during critical moments has further deteriorated the climate in the house. I have concluded that the situation in the house is untenable.”

In a statement, Mr. Sullivan and Ms. Robinson said, “We are surprised and dismayed by the action Harvard announced today. We believed the discussions we were having with high-level university representatives were progressing in a positive manner, but Harvard unilaterally ended those talks.”

Harvard’s Letter to Winthrop House
The dean of Harvard College, Rakesh Khurana, sent this email saying that Ronald S. Sullivan Jr. and Stephanie Robinson would not continue as faculty deans of Winthrop House after June 30. (PDF, 2 pages, 0.08 MB)


2 pages, 0.08 MB
“We will now take some time to process Harvard’s actions and consider our options,” their statement continued. “We are sorry that Harvard’s actions and the controversy surrounding us has contributed to the stress on Winthrop students at this already stressful time.”

On Monday, Mr. Sullivan said that he was in fact no longer representing Mr. Weinstein. In an emailed statement, he said that a judge on Monday had approved his request to withdraw from the legal team. He said that a rescheduling of the trial to September had created a conflict with his teaching obligations at Harvard Law School. He said he would remain available to Mr. Weinstein’s legal team for advice and consultation.


He added, “My decision to represent Mr. Weinstein sparked considerable discussion and activism around issues of sexual violence, the appropriate role and responsibilities of Harvard and its faculty in addressing those issues, and the tension between protecting the rights of those criminally accused and validating the experience of those who are survivors of sexual violence. My representation of those accused of sexual assault does not speak to my personal views on any of these matters.”

The decision not to renew the appointments of Mr. Sullivan and Ms. Robinson as faculty deans does not affect their positions at the law school, where Mr. Sullivan is the Jesse Climenko Clinical Professor of Law and the director of the Criminal Justice Institute. :whew: :mjcry:

The controversy around Mr. Sullivan’s representation of Mr. Weinstein highlighted a conflict between the legal principle that every accused person deserves a vigorous defense and students’ demands that college officials show support for victims of sexual assault.
“Whose side are you on?” demanded one of the spray-painted messages directed at Mr. Sullivan earlier this year.

But a number of Mr. Sullivan’s colleagues came to his defense; 52 professors at the law school signed a letter supporting him, saying that his commitment to representing unpopular clients was fully consistent with his roles as law professor and faculty dean, and that Harvard should not pressure him to resign.

At the same time, the dispute took on a racial element, with some saying that Mr. Sullivan was being treated unfairly. In a statement in late March, the Harvard Black Law Students Association criticized the decision by the university to conduct a climate review and expressed concern about “the racist undertones evidenced by the disproportionate response to this issue by the university.”

Mr. Sullivan himself suggested that race was playing a role in the handling of the controversy.

“It is not lost on me that I’m the first African-American to hold this position,” he told The Times earlier this year. “Never in the history of the faculty dean position has the dean been subjected to a ‘climate review’ in the middle of some controversy.”


Harvard students live, eat and socialize in the college’s 12 undergraduate houses. The job of the faculty deans is to support students academically and personally, and to set the tone for the house’s social activities.

Mr. Sullivan, left, joined Mr. Weinstein’s defense team in January.Pool photo by Steven Hirsch

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Mr. Sullivan, left, joined Mr. Weinstein’s defense team in January.Pool photo by Steven Hirsch
As the review of Winthrop House progressed, other issues surfaced, with some current and former staff members telling The Harvard Crimson that they had experienced “a workplace climate of hostility and suspicion” under Mr. Sullivan and Ms. Robinson. :mjpls:

Danu Mudannayake, a junior who took a leading role in organizing the protests, said on Saturday afternoon that she had not expected the college to act so definitively or so quickly.

“My honest reaction is just completely gobsmacked, but in the best way,” she said. “I’m very proud today of our college and our college’s administration for finally choosing to do the right thing.”

Mr. Sullivan has represented other controversial clients, including Aaron Hernandez:ohhh:, the former New England Patriots player, when he was tried for double murder, and the family of Usaamah Rahim, a man, shot by the Boston police, who had been accused of being a terrorist.:ohhh:

Mr. Sullivan also represented the family of Michael Brown, a man killed by the police in Missouri, in bringing a wrongful-death suit against the City of Ferguson; the family ultimately received a reported $1.5 million settlement. :ohhh:

He has specialized in overturning wrongful convictions. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, he led an effort to change the system that provided legal defense for the indigent in New Orleans; the effort resulted in the release of thousands of wrongfully incarcerated inmates. In 2014, the Brooklyn district attorney, Kenneth Thompson, asked Mr. Sullivan to design and implement a conviction review unit to identify and exonerate wrongfully convicted people. It became a national model.


In his email to Winthrop House, Mr. Khurana praised the commitment of Mr. Sullivan and Ms. Robinson to justice and civic engagement. “This is a regrettable situation and a very hard decision to make,” he wrote.

He said that he and two other Harvard deans would visit Winthrop House on Saturday afternoon to answer students’ questions. Ms. Mudannayake said on Saturday that she was in the dining hall with the deans, and the mood was “very happy.”

“They’re all there and addressing concerns, questions, even just people who want to say thank you to them,” she said. “I think that’s added to the kind of celebratory atmosphere.”

Correction: May 13, 2019
An earlier version of this article misstated the month when Harvey Weinstein is scheduled to face trial. It is September, not June.

[/QUOTE]



This is that undergrad student leader :mjpls:

0


:mjpls:





@Raymond Burrr @Red Shield @Michael's Black Son @Trajan @Sukairain @YouMadd? @SupremexKing @#1 pick @Clutch Robinson @Cat piss martini @AndroidHero @Pirius Black @ba'al @panopticon @johnedwarduado
 
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☑︎#VoteDemocrat

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:mjpls:

HuffPost is now a part of Oath


Harvard Ousts Dean Who Joined, Withdrew From Harvey Weinstein’s Defense Team

The Black Law Students Association defended Ronald Sullivan’s decision and said the school’s response was characterized by “racist undertones.”
Amy Russo
Harvard University has ousted faculty dean and professor Ronald Sullivan after he joined the defense team of disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and sparked backlash from many students.

Sullivan and Harvard lecturer Stephanie Robinson, a married couple, both served as the first black deans in the school’s undergraduate Winthrop House.
Though Sullivan has since withdrawn from the Weinstein case and Robinson was never part of it, neither will be welcomed back after their terms end on June 30, Harvard Dean Rakesh Khurana said in a statement Saturday, calling it “a regrettable situation.”



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“Over the last few weeks, students and staff have continued to communicate concerns about the climate in Winthrop House to the College,” Khurana said. “The concerns expressed have been serious and numerous. The actions that have been taken to improve the climate have been ineffective, and the noticeable lack of faculty dean presence during critical moments has further deteriorated the climate in the House. I have concluded that the situation in the House is untenable.”

Harvard’s decision came two days before a court approved Sullivan’s request to withdraw from the Weinstein team.

In a joint statement sent Monday to HuffPost, Sullivan and Robinson said they were “surprised and dismayed” by Khurana’s decision.

“We believed the discussions we were having with high level University representatives were progressing in a positive manner, but Harvard unilaterally ended those talks,” they said. “We are sorry that Harvard’s actions and the controversy surrounding us has contributed to the stress on Winthrop students at this already stressful time.”

The couple said their next steps would be to process the school’s actions and “consider our options.”

5cd9dcfd24000058007ed63a.jpeg

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Ronald Sullivan arriving at New York Supreme Court on Jan. 25, 2019.


Sullivan announced in January that he would represent Weinstein, according to The Harvard Crimson, who is scheduled to stand trial in September for charges of sexual assault and rape. Outraged Harvard students began protesting Sullivan in response, culminating in a 178-person sit-in last week at the Winthrop dining hall where students waved Me Too signs.

Last Friday, The Crimson reported that several current and former Winthrop staffers claimed to have witnessed “a workplace climate of hostility and suspicion generated by” Sullivan and Robinson.

While Sullivan faced strong criticism from some within the Harvard community, in March, the school’s Black Law Students Association defended his decision to represent Weinstein, condemning the notion that those accused of sexual assault are undeserving of legal counsel.

The organization also called the school’s response “outsized,” arguing that it was characterized by “racist undertones.”

Furthermore, the HBLSA denounced what it called efforts “to scapegoat Professor Sullivan for the ongoing failures of the University to effectively address the many issues of sexual assault on campus.”

On Monday, Sullivan told HuffPost he was no longer representing the film producer, pointing to a scheduling conflict with the trial date. Though Sullivan has made his exit from the Weinstein team, he said he would continue to be available to the defense “for advice and consultation.”


Addressing the controversy over his initial decision to work for Weinstein, Sullivan said, “My representation of those accused of sexual assault does not speak to my personal views on any of these matters.”

A spokesperson for Weinstein told HuffPost “Weinstein is extremely grateful to Ronald Sullivan for his work with him until now, and for Ron’s offer to advise where he can going forward.”

“Mr. Sullivan believed that Mr. Weinstein deserved a vigorous defense, and it is a sad moment for us all right now. We, as a country, have now reached the point when a Harvard lawyer and professor cannot serve his duty to, and belief in, the law and defend a person who may be deemed unpopular or unworthy of a legal defense by segments of the public.”

Both Sullivan and Robinson will still be able to teach and lecture at Harvard, though it’s unclear whether they’ll decide to do so after losing their deanships.

Winthrop is one of 12 residential locations on Harvard’s campus where undergraduate students socialize and dine. The school’s website likens it to the fictional Gryffindor house from the “Harry Potter” series, boasting tight-knit relationships, a lion mascot and a slew of famous alums from the Kennedys to actor B.J. Novak.

Deans like Sullivan and Robinson are responsible for leading and setting the tone of their respective houses, according to Harvard’s description of the position.
 

Yinny

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Deans DO have a representative “public-facing” role of their schools/house in this case with expectations for accessibility, and one of the things they’re expected to have is appropriate judgment. We’ve all heard the tape, that’s moronic af to join Weinstein’s case when Harvard is facing its own controversy over sexual assault-what kind of message does that send to students?

Choose better.
 

BlackJesus

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Harvard couldn't wait to remove both their black black asses. Goddamn. :picard:

Maybe he should sue?
 

NoMoreWhiteWoman2020

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fukk Harvard. But damn I hope he sues them for 50 million and find out that his accusers paid to get into Harvard and get their shyts revoked.
 
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