Obama Made a Strong First Impression at Harvard

[Treestar]

Good wingnut countering material

Quote:By the end of Obama's second year, his academic record and reputation had qualified him to run for one of the most prestigious roles at the law school — president of the Harvard Law Review.

The review editors were a partisan, contentious group. Classmate Brad Berenson remembers the guy from Hawaii who floated above the fray. "One of the enduring images I have of him is of a guy in jeans and a leather jacket, Jimmy Dean style, standing out in front of Gannett House smoking a cigarette."

Berenson was one of the conservatives, and in a long, contentious election, his group ultimately supported Obama's candidacy.

"They did that in part because they had a sense that he was more open-minded and would listen to the conservatives, and would value and accept their contributions in a way that some of the other candidates would not," says Berenson, who worked in the George W. Bush White House and is now a member of Romney's justice advisory committee.

Found that useful in countering wing nut nonsense that it wall all "affirmative action."

[janedrake]

Had to post the accompanying NYT story on this (from 1990). I remember reading it in that day's paper - long before the advent of the internets -"Word" was still brand new to me then, too - I recall I was still using WordPerfect! -- in any case, I had no clue that this young man I was reading about then would so hugely impact the world. Note this quote about his election to the post -

"Professors and students at the law school reacted cautiously to Mr. Obama's selection. ''For better or for worse, people will view it as historically significant,'' said Prof. Randall Kennedy, who teaches contracts and race relations law. ''But I hope it won't overwhelm this individual student's achievement.''

I think it's very safe to say it *did not* overwhelm Obama's individual achievement!

Quote: First Black Elected to Head Harvard Law Review
http://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/06/us/fir...eview.html

BOSTON, Feb. 5— The Harvard Law Review, generally considered the most prestigious in the country, elected the first black president in its 104-year history today. The job is considered the highest student position at Harvard Law School....

''The fact that I've been elected shows a lot of progress,'' Mr. Obama said today in an interview. ''It's encouraging.

''But it's important that stories like mine aren't used to say that everything is O.K. for blacks. You have to remember that for every one of me, there are hundreds or thousands of black students with at least equal talent who don't get a chance...."

[sandnsea]

Barack Obama is the exact precise point of affirmative action, as is Michelle and her brother. They are people who would not have gotten into Harvard 20 years before they applied. Making sure minorities, women and people of color, get their chance to succeed is the entire point. That's all any fuckwitted fuckwit needs to be told about affrimative action. And, for good measure, the reason they didn't get into any college is that they are, in fact, a fuckwitted fuckwit; AND they Didn't Apply To ANY college.

People just fucking exasperate me. What the fuck anyway.