Dear 1Ls:
Welcome to Harvard Law School! We are thrilled to be back and excited to start a new page for the HLS Chapter of the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy. ACS is the nation’s leading progressive legal organization, bringing together law students, attorneys, scholars, judges, policymakers, activists, and other concerned individuals working to ensure that the fundamental principles of human dignity, individual rights and liberties, genuine equality, robust democratic participation, and access to justice – concepts that are central to our Constitution -- remain in their rightful place in American law.
The student chapter here at Harvard seeks to live up to that promise by providing opportunities for interested progressive students to connect and engage with cutting-edge ideas, with high-profile speakers, and with other students who share overlapping interests. This past year some of our most successful events have included a discussion on the national popular vote proposal with Hendrik Hertzberg of the New Yorker and Professor Akhil Amar of Yale Law School, a presentation by Judges Stephen Reinhardt and Alex Kozinski of the Ninth Circuit, and a book talk with Professors Kermit Roosevelt of Penn Law and Michael Klarman of HLS. The year was both ushered in and escorted out on two high notes: in September, we hosted a kick-off event with Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, and we ended the year with a hugely popular Supreme Court Term Roundup with Tom Goldstein of SCOTUSBlog and Professor Laurence Tribe.
In addition to providing exciting programming events, we also work to emphasize the “community” aspect of our progressive legal community, setting up social events and mentorship programs. This past year, we have held panels of 2Ls and 3Ls to provide 1Ls with guidance on a wide variety of issues, including class selection, job interviews, clerkships, and Law Review applications, as well as many happy hours and social events sprinkled in between. We have some great ideas this year to make these events even better, but we need and are always eager for input from new 1Ls.
We want you to join ACS! In addition to getting updates on both our event and mentorship programs, joining ACS National also lets you access our ACS Harvard Exam Bank for finals studying, as well as take part in a book swap for finding textbooks at the beginning of each semester. At the end of the day, our ACS chapter is about connecting new ideas and passionate people; every year, we are joined by a new group of fresh faces who share our excitement for progressive developments and changes in law and policy, and we look forward to you joining our ACS family!
The simplest way to stay on top of ACS events is to sign up for our email list by emailing Sara Madge at smadge@jd10.law.harvard.edu or by following our Twitter feed at www.twitter.com/harvardacs.
Best wishes,
The 2009-2010 ACS Executive Board