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Randall Kennedy

  • Three students having a conversation

    A day in the life of Harvard Law

    March 14, 2014

    Because legal education demands rigorous discussion and exchange, because legal imagination springs from bridging theory and practice, and because Harvard Law School recruits and develops superb students from all over the world to pursue lives of leadership, the school commissioned space designed precisely for these purposes. Here's a look at the spaces that are part of the Harvard Law School experience.

  • The Green Bag recognizes HLS faculty, alums for ‘Exemplary Legal Writing’

    January 17, 2014

    A number of Harvard Law School faculty and alumni were included on Green Bag’s 2013 list of “Exemplary Legal Writing.” The list was compiled from nominees based on the votes of the journal’s Board of Advisers, which includes members of the state and federal judiciaries, private law firms, the news media and academia.

  • Illustration

    Salving the Wounds

    January 1, 2014

    Randall Kennedy has tackled plenty of controversial issues in his five previous books, ranging from interracial marriage to the intersection of race, crime and the law. The Harvard Law professor comes to the defense of affirmative action in his latest book, “For Discrimination.” In an interview with the Bulletin, Kennedy described his own evolution on the issue and the impact of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, which was announced after his book went to print.

  • A Milestone But …

    December 6, 2012

    On the night Barack Obama ’91 was elected president of the United States, many people cried tears of joy. For many black people the tears held a special significance: They couldn’t believe they had lived to see this milestone. Yet their happiness also signified something sad about the moment, about the history of the country and about the problem of race in America that did not end with the election of the nation’s first black president, says Randall Kennedy.

  • HLS Professor Randall Kennedy and Dr. Abigail Thernstrom of the Manhattan Institute

    Redistricting and voters rights

    March 6, 2012

    On Tuesday, Feb. 14, the Harvard Federalist Society and the Harvard Black Law Students Association co-sponsored a discussion about race and redistricting with Dr. Abigail Thernstrom of the Manhattan Institute and Professor Randall Kennedy, the Michael R. Klein Professor of Law at Harvard Law School.

  • Professor Randall L. Kennedy

    Kennedy on PBS and BookTV: Obama and Racial Politics

    September 7, 2011

    Harvard Law School Professor Randall Kennedy recently appeared on PBS’s Tavis Smiley show and CSPAN’s BookTV to discuss his latest book, “The Persistence of the Color Line: Racial Politics and the Obama Presidency” (Pantheon Books).

  • Professor Randall L. Kennedy

    Randall Kennedy on The Takeaway: on ‘The Persistence of the Color Line’

    August 15, 2011

    Harvard Law School Professor Randall Kennedy recently appeared on the radio program “The Takeaway” to discuss his new book “The Persistence of the Color Line: Racial Politics and the Obama Presidency” (Pantheon Books).

  • HLS Dean Martha Minow

    Six Harvard Law School professors and six ideas worth spreading, in 60 minutes (video)

    June 17, 2011

    This year’s “HLS Thinks Big” event, inspired by the global TED (Technology Entertainment and Design) talks and modeled after the College’s “Harvard Thinks Big” event first held last year, took place on May 23, featuring topics ranging from legal assistance for undocumented students to risk analysis in constitutional design.

  • Professor Randall L. Kennedy

    Kennedy in TNR: A right of all citizens

    May 12, 2011

    In light of the recent controversy over President Barack Obama’s birth certificate, Harvard Law School Professor Randall Kennedy espouses his views on the subject in the May 12 edition of The New Republic online.

  • Professor Randall L. Kennedy

    Kennedy in The New Republic: The case for early retirement

    May 2, 2011

    In an opinion piece published in The New Republic on April 28, Harvard Law School Professor Randall Kennedy takes the stance that Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg ’56-’58 and Stephen Breyer ’64 should retire soon, suggesting that a calculated and timely exit would ensure the Democratic selection of justices who share their judicial philosophies.

  • Jonathan Zittrain at Public Interest Auction

    At Public Interest Auction, HLS raises money for Summer Public Interest Funding

    April 25, 2011

    Lunch with the NHL commissioner and general counsel. Dining in the U.N. delegates’ dining room. An Apple TV.  New Bergdorf socks. These were just a few of the items auctioned during “Step Right Up! Bids Under the Big Top,” the 18th annual Public Interest Auction on April 7.

  • Professor Randall L. Kennedy

    Randall Kennedy on The Takeaway: The “Reconstruction Amendment”

    August 11, 2010

    Harvard Law School Professor Randall Kennedy recently appeared on Public Radio International’s show “The Takeaway” to discuss the 14th amendment in light of the current immigration debate.

  • Elena Kagan

    Making the case for Elena Kagan

    April 29, 2010

    In the following op-eds, HLS professors Charles Fried, Randall L. Kennedy, Lawrence Lessig, Charles Ogletree, Ronald S. Sullivan, Visiting Lecturer Tom Goldstein, and former HLS Dean Robert C. Clark write in support of Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, former HLS Dean and current Solicitor General.

  • Professor Randall L. Kennedy

    Kennedy delivers speech at Phi Theta Kappa’s Honors Institute

    June 26, 2009

    Randall Kennedy, the Michael R. Klein Professor of Law at HLS, addressed members of Phi Theta Kappa at the 2009 Honors Institute at the University of Richmond in Virginia in June.

  • 2008 – Year in Review – Books

    December 13, 2008

    2008 was a prolific year for HLS scholars. Here is a roundup of this year’s faculty books.

  • “Here, Have a Seat”

    July 1, 2008

    Often, there’s a bond between the donor of a new chair and the scholar who occupies it.

  • Mightier Than the S-word

    July 1, 2008

    Randall Kennedy knows what it’s like to be called a sellout. Throughout his 24-year career at Harvard Law School, Kennedy has developed a reputation as a professor who is not afraid to challenge orthodoxies—sometimes to the alarm of liberals and black Americans.

  • Professor Randall L. Kennedy

    Kennedy discusses new book, "Sellout: The Politics of Racial Betrayal"

    March 6, 2008

    In a March 5 event sponsored by the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice, Harvard Law School Professor Randall Kennedy discussed his new book, entitled "Sellout: The Politics of Racial Betrayal."

  • Professor Randall Kennedy

    The Purity of the Strain

    July 1, 2007

    Since presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama ’91 launched his campaign earlier this year, some have questioned whether Americans are ready to elect a black president.

  • In legal scholarship, what defines staying power?

    April 1, 2007

    What does it mean to 'think like a lawyer' - in particular, an American lawyer? After wrestling with that question for years, Harvard Law Professors David Kennedy '80 and William W. Fisher III '82 have given us an anthology of the law review articles they believe yield the answer.

  • Meltzer and Driver laughing

    The New 1L

    July 1, 2002

    For the first time in decades, HLS has changed the basic structure of its first-year experience, and students and faculty are singing the praises of The New 1L.