Kamala Harris Got Into Law School Via a Program She Didn't Qualify For
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
amala Harris graduated from Howard University without honors. Harris then applied to law school. She was admitted to Hastings School of Law at the University of California. Hastings is considered a good law school but not “elite." It ranks 80th of America’s ABA schools.
Admission isn't a "breeze" but it is pretty easy to be accepted for an honors student, with a solid LSAT. Of the total applicants to Hastings, about half are accepted and around a third of that number actually enroll. That means Hasting is a “backup” law school for a lot of the applicants.
She wasn't an honors student at Howard. There is no information on what Kamala Harris scored on her LSAT. We do know that she didn't pass the Bar on the first try when 80 percent of her classmates did pass . So how did a run-of-the-mill student, and daughter of a “privileged” upbringing get into Hastings School of Law?
Easy – she fudged her application. Harris was admitted under a program called LEOP. According to the University :
UC Hastings created the Legal Education Opportunity Program (LEOP) in 1969 to make an outstanding legal education accessible to those who come from disadvantaged economic and educational backgrounds.
Students are encouraged to submit a “separate LEOP statement describing the adversity they faced and its impact on their academic preparedness for law school. Diagnostic reports documenting disabilities and/or accommodations can be submitted as addenda.”
In a Politico article from 2021, the author describes Harris at Hastings :
In the fall of 1986, Harris arrived on campus at Hastings a week before most of her classmates. She was part of the pre-orientation Legal Education Opportunity Program (LEOP), which had been founded in 1969 to help law students from disadvantaged communities navigate the stringent demands of the first-year curriculum. Harris had come to a predominantly white institution after four years at a historically Black university. Beyond introducing students to Socratic pedagogy, case-briefing and exam-taking, the pre-orientation also gave students of color a sense of community and a hamlet of solidarity in a cut-throat environment.
Harris, the daughter of two college professors, who grew up attending private schools in Canada, was not, in the least, economically or socially disadvantaged. But there she is, claiming she was.
At the start of the program in the early 70s, new students admitted through LEOP did not fare well. The dropout rate was high, so the school instituted a more “hands-on” routine assigning one-on-one tutors to help navigate law school for LEOP students. On paper, the program wasn’t intended for one of her social position of privilege.
Harris was immersed in Indian culture growing up in Montreal. Her family traveled the world. Her mother was taken aback when a Head Start teacher was “shocked” that Harris wasn’t from the poor side of Oakland. Harris’s mother told him that Kamala was the daughter of privilege. Harris didn’t fit into the intended target demographic that LEOP was designed for – but she fully took advantage of her ethnic heritage. At least one side of it. Once admitted under the program Haris joined the BLSA (Black Law Students Association). Raised by her Indian mother, Harris found more currency in being black . ..
California attorney Laura Powell tracked down other information about Harris while Harris was at Hastings.
During Harris’s time at Hastings, she was, according to her resume, “president” of the BLSA and thus likely sat in judgment of who would get into Hastings via LEOP. Hasting’s dean found out that the committee that selected students was interviewing applicants. He said that he stopped the interview process because it became clear that it wasn't accepting students based on need (or in Harris’s case a lack of need), but based on political leanings.
When he asked a selector about asking political questions He didn’t like the answer :
One student at the meeting said “well we don’t ask those questions; we likely would get Clarence Thomases”
That comment confirmed the Dean’s worst fears. The interview process was stopped but it was obvious that the program was left-leaning and biased.
To get into law school, Harris was a beneficiary of a program that wasn’t intended for someone of her economic or social status. She almost certainly lied on her application or at a minimum knew that her politics would fit with the LEOP selection committee. Harris was “waved in” because of a lie or because of politics. Harris has consistently used the "system" she decries, and she gained positions that she did not deserve and did not earn. She gamed the system.
Not very “equitable” of her, it seems.
Harris reminds me of "The Jerk" and this iconic line:
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Makes Sense.
To who?
Its funny, in a pathetic sort of way, to watch Trump acolytes flood the zone with relative trivia about Kamala Harris . Its the old biblical saying
And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
Yeah, stealing the spot of a truly disadvantaged student is very trump like, unless you have a D after your name and then it's nothing to see here.
If you want to get all hot and bothered about it be my guest.
Harris, the daughter of two college professors, who grew up attending private schools in Canada
As far as I can tell Harris only attended Westmount High School (as did I) and Vanier College in Montreal, neither are private. Had she any private education the likelihood would be French oral. The 'author' is running the risk of being tagged a liar.
Do you think the daughter of two college professors qualifies as disadvantaged?
Kamala played the system and now wants make it easier to give others the same "opportunity" to play the system she had.
There probably was a time when a story like this would be sort of important in a presidential election. 2024 is not that time.
I didnt read a word of the article.
People who dont care, at all, about Trump trying to steal the 2020 election, care about Harris maybe getting into a school in a shady way. Its unbelievable.
I have no idea as to how much her parents earned when she was born, neither was a tenured professor at the time and tenure is where the bucks are.
Do you think the author of this screed has any redeeming features after failing so mendaciously at basic research?
The article is a hit job. I looked through it after I said I wasnt going to, and it has some of the elements of birtherism and Trump demanding to see Obama's school records.
Exactly. Talking about her LSATs etc. and college transcripts.
Let's see the former 'president's' moron's records from college and his SATs.
She was 8 when her father got tenure, So......Not disadvantaged when Appling for Law school unless she was 7 at the time.
As for Mom: Research Scientist Salaries in the United States for Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory | Indeed.com
I'm sure the Kids from actual under privileged families were happy to give their spot up for her.
Thank you for the research.
She was all of 5 years old when her parents divorced, so ...
It looks like a few people failed to do the research.
Indeed, the author and those members chasing parked cars. Do you also chase parked cars Vic?
Never mind the author. We have extensively educated people here who didn't seem to know that one of her parents was tenured when she was 5.
When you apply for college both parents income are looked at divorced or not Plus she spent weekends in Palo Alto with Dad, so.......And her Mother got her PHD in 64 and was a research scientist nothing about that says under privileged.
Why, is she not responsible for what she writes? She lied about private schools that a simple Google would have corrected, not a good look for a lawyer who praises her own veracity. Try her X account and see what she is all about, an Alina Habba wannabe.
I looked at Laura Powell's X account, and it reaffirmed my thoughts that this is a "birther" type hit crusade, including speculation about the home country of her mother, India, and "castes".
I'm surprised Trump hasnt picked up on this junk yet, but he's been busy pretending to care about fast food workers.
Are children of professors economically disadvantaged? Or is it "birtherism" to ask that question?
Her mother's income alone was likely significantly higher than the median family income at the time. How is she economically disadvantaged?
Neither does the author of this 'article' obviously.
Key word 'likely' - none of us knows what their median family income was.
Really no different than the articles you seed on a regular basis.
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I’m looking forward to the day when you can manage it.
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I'm looking forward to the day you make any argument at all.[✘]
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Harris parents were divorced when she was seven years old so she and her sister were raised by a single mother, not the lap of luxury I’m sure. If they were so well off why live in Oakland there are a lot more upscale cities close by.
Well since the parents were divorced in 1972 when Kamala was 7 years old,
after which they had separate households and pursued different career paths in different cities,
how did you determine that they were "advantaged"?
Let me help with that, Harris attended a French-speaking primary school, Notre-Dame-des-Neiges , [ 34 ] then F.A.C.E. School , [ 35 ] and finally Westmount High School [ b ] in Westmount, Quebec ,
Early life and career of Kamala Harris - Wikipedia
Wonderful, now pickout the private schools. Notre-Dame-des Neiges is a public french school and F.A.C.E (Fine Arts Core Education) taught elementary through grade 8 is run by both the public english and french school boards.
You should work with the author, she is in desperate need of an editor.
The one on the right is Kamala Harris childhood home. It doesnt look like a house of "privilege" to me, but maybe the inside was super nice.
She took advantage of a program for economically disadvantaged people..
Do you think those programs are set up to help the children of professionals, or those who literally, barely scrape by?
Did Trump get into the U. of Penn. on merit? He claims he graduated with honors and there is no record of that whatsoever.
Deflection alert
Must have been a legacy or something. It couldn't have been based on his grades.
Trump's older brother was friends with someone in the admissions department.
That's how..Only possible way
So, it wasn't based on race/gender.
Got it.
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who did trump sleep with?
Now you're getting it.
History is full of men and women who did the same, so effing what? Jump starting one's adolescent prejudices this late in life indicates one has not gotten over them.
Didn't someone else live downstairs who watched the girls when the mother was working?
It just goes on and on, doesn't it?
Right wing MAGA bullshit? Yes it does.
The article implies that Harris is not that intelligent. Do you agree she is at least as intelligent as Trump? And if you dont, what is your basis?
Did one of his Wharton professors repeatedly tell friends and associates that Donald Trump “was the dumbest goddamn student I ever had”?
It’s rare for a professor to disparage the intelligence of a student, but according to attorney Frank DiPrima, who was close friends with professor William T. Kelley for 47 years, the prof made an exception for Donald Trump, at least in private. “He must have told me that 100 times over the course of 30 years,” says DiPrima, who has been practicing law since 1963 and has served as in-house counsel for entities including the Federal Trade Commission and Playboy Enterprises. “I remember the inflection of his voice when he said it: ‘ Donald Trump was the dumbest goddamn student I ever had!’” He would say that [Trump] came to Wharton thinking he already knew everything, that he was arrogant and he wasn’t there to learn.” Kelley, who passed away in 2011 at age 94, taught marketing at Wharton for 31 years, retiring in 1982.
Donald Trump at Wharton: Fact Checking the President’s Time at Penn (phillymag.com)
Why would somebody simply voting against Donald Trump care?
That's how the former 'president' moron feels about everything - you cannot tell him anything.
Just off of observing them, I would say Harris has above average intelligence and Trump is of average intelligence. If you want to be picky about it many of Trump's blatherings makes one suspect a below average intelligence there.
The former 'president' I judge to have below average intelligence, among the uneducable mentally retarded - no offense to the truly mentally challenged through no fault of their own
I think many would disagree.
Maybe that is why with only 2 weeks to go Kamala is out doing things she might never do with a lead and the former President is having a good time campaigning.
Funny how it turned out. It is Trump with all the joy and Kamala appealing to hate.
No kidding!
MAGA's have a weird and alarming definition of "joy".
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Something the author of this screed more than dabbles in.
Nah, it hits the mark where it counts. Her exaggerations/lies. Only fools and partisans buy that nonsense but by all means.
Enjoy!
Could you turn around so I can take some pics?
Just bend over, head between your knees and take your own.
Buh bye now …..
Really? And just what is a MAGA John??
we are in the final countdown and i'm done with you
You do appear to enjoy the lies.
It started in earnest after Trump beat their chosen one in 2016. Now that their next chosen one (an unelected chosen one this time around) has been coronated they must ramp up the anti Trump rhetoric.
They’ve got no COVID this time so it’s all they got.
What do you guys have, Arnold Palmer's big dick?
An in a nationwide popularity contest they may have found the only person in the democrat party less likable than Hillary, which is saying alot.
I know. The really funny part is they all knew her. She’s been around in politics for a long time.
Train wreck doesn’t even begin to explain that decision.
The Betting line is trump 60%, Only one reason for that, Kamala is that bad of a choice.
I don't recall the exact date but it was well before 2020.
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Sigh. Here we have a story about law school about to be read by a bunch of people who don’t know shit about law school, and apparently written by a guy who doesn’t know shit about law school either (according to his LinkedIn page, his education is limited to a BA in political science.)
Let’s get this out of the way. Law school rankings are mostly bullshit. The most commonly sighted - and hated - rankings are from US News & World Report. Rankings are not only based upon arbitrary criteria, they are largely irrelevant for most law students. If anyone actually cares why all of this is true, I can go into it, but that feels like a pretty deep rabbit hole. Try to take my word for it.
Additionally, even if you do care about rankings, they fluctuate a lot and in the 80s (when Harris attended) and 90s, Hastings was ranked much higher - even made Top 20 for a while. What they are ranked in 2024 doesn’t say anything about the school when Harris was there. But it’s inclusion here does say something about the level of journalism in this article.
It’s actually one of the most important law schools in California, especially if you want to practice in Central or Northern California.
Meaning she put something false on her application? That’s a hell of an accusation. Got any proof? I won’t hold my breath.
A lot of socially and/or economically disadvantaged kids attend private school - very often on some kind of scholarship because they can’t afford the full tuition.
I have two general thoughts on this story:
#1 : Even if everything here is true - and there’s no proof that any of it is true - she still had to graduate from law school. Law school exams are graded blind and students earn their grades based on a curve. So any advantage she had getting into school had zero impact on her grades. That also means even if you answered a substantial portion of a class exam successfully, it could still be a failing grade, if you get the lowest score. You don’t graduate unless you’re actually competitive. She clearly did graduate. She clearly passed the bar - arguably the hardest bar exam in the country. You may not like how she got her opportunities, but at least she did something with them.
#2 : Your alternative is Trump and this is the shit you’re worried about? Wake up!
They dont like woke.
US News & World Report did not rank her school when she attended.
actually one of the most important law schools in California,
So? There's less than 200 law schools in the country. All of them are important in their states.
t of socially and/or economically disadvantaged kids attend priva
Children of professors aren't economically disadvantaged. A child of a single mother who works a minimum wage job is.
Since you don’t have firsthand knowledge about her social or economic life growing up, I don’t think you’re in a position to judge.
You have records going back that far?
Really, the school’s ranking while she was attending would be less relevant than its score in the years following her graduation, because student outcomes might be factored into the rankings. I did find this report , which shows that by 1994, Hastings was ranked 20th in the nation - again, if you think that matters for something.
Just to give an example of how pointless these rankings can be, there is this source of the Top 20 from 1987:
What the U.S. News Law School Rankings Looked Like in 1987
Check out how they were ranked:
That’s a terrible methodology.
Why do you care what her law school is ranked, whether it is an old ranking or a new one?
Jealousy?
That is bullshit, In the land of Stanford, Berkley, Davis and Cal. Hasting isn't even an honorable mention.
As I alluded, schools get their rankings for some pretty dumb reasons. There’s a lot of chicken vs egg debate that can be had with regard to these rankings. Graduates often use those rankings to get high paying corporate law jobs. The rankings help them compete for jobs nationally or get federal law clerk jobs. Not everybody goes to law school for those reasons, but those outcomes often heavily influence the rankings.
It is a fact that if you want to work in Sacramento or San Francisco - especially in a DA’s office - Hastings is a great choice. In fact, it may even be a better choice than Stanford or Berkeley. Very often, law schools that aren’t living forever in the Top 14, employ local attorneys and judges to teach classes. It’s a key networking opportunity. It can also affect what classes are available and how they are taught. I got important insights into how our local courts function because a local judge taught a class. I’m also pretty friendly with that judge now. That might not have happened if I had gone to a higher ranked school.
I’m not here to dis Stanford. It’s a fine school. But once you get out of the Top 14, law school choice becomes very regional and very personal.
The reality is, the school matters much less than the individual.
Well, actually the only ones that matter is those that donate the most.....foreign or domestic.