If we want to understand Donald Trump’s most recent election, at least part of the answer is here at home. The fingerprints of our elite institutions are all over this fascist moment. And among our elite institutions, there is perhaps no greater culprit than the Yale Law School.
Yale Law School alumni have been at the forefront of the ongoing authoritarian assault on our democracy. Four years ago, when President Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump in a free and fair election, Elmer Stewart Rhodes LAW ’04, the founder of the Proud Boys, sent his followers to storm the Capitol. They were emboldened by Sen. Josh Hawley LAW ’06, who sought to overturn the results by objecting to their certification in Congress. Perpetuating unfounded claims of voter fraud, Rhodes and Hawley led the charge against the most foundational of democratic principles — majority rule and the peaceful transfer of power. Nine people died in the aftermath of Jan. 6, and about 150 police officers were injured. Rhodes has since been convicted of seditious conspiracy.
In our judiciary, Yale Law School can claim three of the Supreme Court justices who disregarded a 49-year-old precedent in order to claw back the most fundamental rights of bodily autonomy — Brett Kavanaugh LAW ’90, Samuel Alito LAW ’75 and Clarence Thomas LAW ’74. These same three justices also voted with their colleagues to grant Trump absolute immunity from criminal liability for official acts. So much for checks and balances.
Yet there is no greater embodiment of what Yale Law School has wrought than the next Vice President of the United States, JD Vance LAW ’13. Law School professors encouraged Vance to find his voice and build his platform, and the Law School network gave him the connections that enabled his rise. Simply put, there would be no Vice President Vance without Yale Law School. But more than that, Vance is also the perfect manifestation of the law school’s culture — a thirst for power at all costs.
It wasn’t long ago that Vance was warning us about Trump, calling him “America’s Hitler” and referring to himself as a “Never Trump guy.” Then — perhaps to win a Senate seat in Ohio — something flipped; Vance wholly embraced MAGA ideology. He now insists that Donald Trump won the 2020 election and he has heaped praise on Project 2025’s leadership. In short, Vance has proven willing to say anything at any time in order to get elected. This is not a man with any discernible moral code; power is his only ideology. Only time will tell if he adorns the walls of his new office with his law school diploma.
Ultimately, the Law School is faced with a track record that demands introspection. Yale Law School is not responsible for every action of every individual that walks its halls. But when so many of the villains of this moment are wielding a Law School degree, we must ask ourselves: what is the Law School getting wrong in how it educates and trains the next generation of leaders? What is it getting wrong in its failure to impart upon its students loyalty to the constitution and adherence to the rule of law? What is it getting wrong if so many of its alumni are proving to be so unscrupulous and despotic?
In the aftermath of Jan. 6, Dean Heather Gerken signed a joint letter calling for a “sustained effort” to “repair and preserve our precious democratic institutions.” Yet, under Gerken’s watch, there has been no perceptible shift in policy, practice or curriculum. To the outside observer, there has been no reflection, let alone action. With an alumni community that now includes insurrectionists and seditionists, the law school’s administration seems to be unphased and unbothered. That is a sad reality for the majority of alumni who came to Yale to do good, uphold the law and advance justice for all.
In its silence, the administration has demonstrated a complicity with the status quo stemming either from an eagerness to avoid hard questions or a pining for continued proximity to power. None of us should have expected Yale Law School to be the bastion of the resistance. Still, it is disturbing to think that an endless yearning for influence and clout would lead the institution so astray.
Thankfully, there is still time; the fight for our democracy is just getting started. And so the law school is confronted with a clear choice: continue to churn out misguided leaders hellbent on advancing fascism, or join the rest of us on the frontline pushing back. As we embark on a second Trump term, we all must grapple with our role and responsibility in building towards a better future. Let’s hope that the law school finds the willingness and the capacity to do the requisite soul-searching before it is too late.
JASON BERKENFELD graduated from Yale Law School in 2017 and is now a philanthropic advisor and political strategist. He can be reached at berkenfeld.jason@gmail.com.