WITH ALL the legal wrangling taking place in Florida and across our fair country, I only feel the slightest bit deprived because of the cruelty of time. Had the controversies over hanging chads, swinging chads and equal protection taken place merely three years in the future, I, armed with a freshly-minted law degree, could have filed my own lawsuit. The case name would have a monumental sound - something like "Poor Orphaned Beagles of Tallahassee v. Evil Bloodsucking State of Florida." After all, one can do a great deal with a Yale Law Degree, and I will have a Yale Law Degree.
Oh, yes. I neglected to mention that detail to the Registrars here at Mr. Jefferson's University and in New Haven, Connecticut.
So I shan't be accused of keeping things from readers, in a matter of days, I will be contesting my rejection from Yale Law School.
After giving the matter intense thought and consulting with numerous legal and spiritual advisors, I decided that, for the good of the admission process, I should request that Yale reconsider my application from last year to attend its School of Law.
Naturally, Vice President Al Gore keeps serving as a wonderful inspiration to me. After losing four times - the original count, the recount, the overseas ballots and the hand recount - he keeps challenging and keeps on trucking. His stalwart work has kindled a little fire - nay, a torch - within my soul to obtain my rightful place in the Yale Class of 2003.
After all, I, like thousands of applicants throughout the centuries, have been disenfranchised by the narrow-minded and technical rules and standards operating in the admissions office at Yale. Like any good larval attorney, I have plenty of evidence for this challenge.
Exhibit A: The applications for this supposedly open-minded school are defective, as they are extremely complex and require intense attention to details. Random words such as "Name," "Address," and "Sex" all float throughout the page, suspended above lines of varying length.
One must wonder what one should write and where. Should the name go above the word "Name" or below it? Should it go on the line or above? While I managed to put my information in the correct place, how can we be certain that all applicants knew this? Those wanting to participate in the Yale admissions process deserve a more open, receptive way of participating.
But this case has more behind it than just the application's complexity. Exhibit B: a defective system of admitting evidence. Such a system has prevented hundreds, or even thousands, from giving the admissions committee all the information it needs. In sending off my application, I mistakenly sent half of the packet - the part detailing my extra-curricular activities - to Yakima, Washington. Additionally, rather than type it in Courier font, I accidentally presented my personal statement in Japanese hieroglyphic finger paint. Also, through a simple error that anybody could have made, the deposit was sent in Euros rather than in American currency.
Amazingly, the Yale admissions committee refused to consider these imperfect attempts in their deliberations. Rather than wisely garner my intent in sending in the application in the first place and allow such slight mistakes to count, the committee placed me in the "out" box. Such a designation reeks of an American institution's ignorance of the will of the applicant.
As persuasive as this case may seem, I cannot be the only orphaned stepchild that this elitist admissions process has dumped onto the darkened, dangerous streets of academia. Numerous others have made such minor mistakes and errors considerably more complex than those voters who couldn't push a tiny oval shaped piece of paper through a flimsy punch card. If people unable to perform such a basic action succeed in getting their imperfections to count, our challenge may have a chance.
Additionally, the seriousness of the Florida challenge gives this Yale effort more clout. The problems in Florida involved the election of the leader of the free world, while these mistakes only involve entry into law school. Thus, to alleviate this tragedy, shouldn't wayward applicants be given the benefit of the doubt in this matter?
If the scores of people like myself were given this minor leeway on the Yale applications, our legal educational system would undoubtedly have a different look to it. Like in Florida, if the challenges prove successful, the Yale School of Law, like America, would better reflect the will of the imperfect, involved applicants.
Of course, Yale sent its final rejection letter a few months ago. However, I have taken heart with the happenings in Florida. As long as an impressionable justice lives in Connecticut - and I think one might - I have a chance. This isn't over, folks ...
(Seth Wood's column appears Wednesdays in The Cavalier Daily.)
Read More
PARTING SHOT: You are your own limit
By Wardah Kamran | 3 hours agoMe, my staffers, we were there. And it happened. And I think that is important enough.
PARTING SHOT: When it comes to art, it pays to pay attention
By Delaney Hammond | 2 days agoEven among people who value the arts, carving out space for critical engagement with — rather than just passive consumption of — art has been an endeavor I have treasured.
PARTING SHOT: You only get what you give
By Delores Cyrus | 2 days agoThe people at this place have taught me that letting others in, while not always easy, is always worth it.
