YALE LAW SCHOOL LOOKS AT ITS DIVERSITY PROBLEM. Well, kind of.

But for all the discussion of ethnic diversity, less was said about ideological and academic diversity — another problem area pointed out by the report. For example, the report said there is a shortage of faculty who specialize in poverty law or teach courses on civil rights. The report also noted the dearth of conservatives in the public law faculty. The dearth of conservative opinions at Yale has rarely been addressed in reports concerning diversity in the FAS or the student body.

Georgetown Law School professor Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz ’92 LAW ’99, who identifies as a conservative, said Yale Law faculty is “almost entirely” left of center politically.

“The reason for this extreme imbalance is certainly not a lack of plausible candidates; there are several prominent right-of-center scholars who are eminently qualified to teach at Yale,” Rosenkranz said. “The most plausible explanation for the ideological imbalance is that this very liberal faculty prefers to hire colleagues who share their own views.”

Rosenkranz, who has written about the lack of conservative faculty in top American law schools, said the dearth of different viewpoints is harmful to both conservatives and liberals, as it leaves liberal students and faculty unable to test their ideas against advocates of other sides.

Yale Law School has more than 70 full-time faculty.

Rosenkranz is right, of course.