STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
The Judge Who Said “Yes” to Gay Marriage
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Choice goods for a great cause: Bidders competed for more than 400 donated items.
500 Brave Winter Snow to Fund Summer Internships
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he buzz grew inside the west wing of Vanderbilt Hall as students, faculty and alumni streamed in to attend the NYU School of Law’s 11th Annual Public Service Auction. “Twilight on Washington Square” brought more than 500 people in from the evening’s bitter snowfall and raised more than $90,000 for summer internships in public service. Bidders strolled among the silent auction’s four rows of tables laden with more than 400 donated items. Competition was highest for wine store gift certificates and an iPod Mini. Generous hopefuls also vied for children’s books, spa treatments, bar exam review sessions, cooking lessons and faculty donations such as espresso lessons, a tennis match and autographed books. Cochairs Anne Kennedy ’06 and Allison Joy Rosendahl ’06 planned the event with a 35-member student committee, and enlisted first- and second-year students to comb the campus, and beyond, for donations and contributions. The live auction raised $26,000 and moved high-end prizes like an eight-person chocolate tasting, a wine and cheese graduation party, NASCAR tickets and seats at
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the U.S. Open. Notable hawkers included Professor Burt Neuborne, Candice Jones ’07 and Sienna Fontaine ’07, who charmed bidders with humor and finesse. Starting with an opening bid of $700, the night’s biggest moneymaker was a set of 2005 Super Bowl tickets that garnered $4,700 thanks to the enthusiasm of auctioneer Beverly Farrell ’01. Bids also piled up for a weekend at Professor Sylvia Law’s five-bedroom home in Woodstock ($1,900), a Paris getaway ($2,000) and a retreat for eight to the dean’s Connecticut home ($1,650). Dollar Wars pitted class against class in a mad scramble to collect the most dollar bills and earn a spot in a “pie duel” with Dean Richard Revesz. The winning 2L class sent Oliver Carter ’06 to the stage for the face-off. Standing back to back, Dean Revesz and Carter each took three paces, turned and launched cream pies at one another, sending a barrage of dessert flying in all directions. “[The auction] allows people to come together around a common purpose that is light-hearted fun and makes a difference,” says Pascale Walker, associate director of the Public Interest Law Center. ■
s a young lawyer working for Legal Services in Brooklyn, Doris Ling-Cohan ’79 experienced her share of prejudice. “When I went to court,” she recalled, “I was often mistaken as an interpreter.” Even after she became the very first Asian American woman elected to the New York State Supreme Court in 2002, Ling-Cohan still had to deal with inconsiderate com- Doris Ling-Cohan ments. After adjourning a case during her first year on the bench, one particularly insensitive lawyer asked her if she was using the “Chinese calendar.” “Many of us do not realize that we may be, in fact, subjects of racial profiling,” said Ling-Cohan. Her untitled talk for the Sixth Annual Korematsu Lecture depicted prejudice against Asian Americans through unsentimental personal anecdotes and hard-fought career milestones. Ling-Cohan exhorted the approximately 80 students and alumni in attendance to fight discrimination. “We have not reached our potential in the law firm community,” said Ling-Cohan. She remarked that prejudice still pervades the legal culture. “As AsianPacific Americans, we have not made sufficient progress if a partner at a major law firm would make jokes about dogs in Chinese restaurants in an email,” Ling-Cohan said, referring to an incident last year in which a partner in the London office of Dewey Ballantine dashed off an email response to a plea to adopt dogs that read, “Please don’t let these puppies go to a Chinese restaurant.” Ling-Cohan also implored the crowd to use their law degrees to fight social injustice. “The struggle does not end when you have a BMW in your driveway,” she said. In February, Ling-Cohan fueled controversy when she ruled that same-sex couples had a constitutional right to marry in New York. “I have been attacked as an activist judge for deciding a case that others brought to me,” she said, adding that she has received hate mail accusing her of “destroying the institution of marriage.” But with characteristic toughness she added that the case also taught her a valuable lesson: “Do not fear criticism. It will make you stronger.” ■ AUTUMN 2005