Students protest the Cornell Federalist Society's event, featuring a speaker from the Alliance Defending Freedom, March 31, 2022
The Cornell Law School’s chapter of the Federalist Society, a conservative and libertarian legal group, received criticism from students for bringing a social conservative to campus yesterday.
The chapter hosted an event titled, “A Debate on Religious Freedom” this Thursday. The debate featured Jordan Lorence, senior counsel at the conservative advocacy organization Alliance Defending Freedom, and Cornell constitutional law professor Nelson Tebbe.
In an email interview with the Review, one of the Cornell Federalist Society’s vice presidents Craig Wickham said that the group began sending planning emails for the event on January 5, taking nearly a month to settle on a date that worked for both speakers. Wickham told the Review that the event was announced to the law school on Monday, March 28.
The debate created some controversy, as it was scheduled to occur on the same day as the Trans Day of Visibility. Many members of the Cornell community expressed outrage. One user on Cornell’s subreddit page called the ADF “a Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) designated hate group notorious for promoting anti-trans and anti-gay ideology in the name of ‘religious liberty’.” Conservatives have objected to the SPLC’s designation of the ADF as a “hate group.” Former attorney general Edwin Meese III wrote:
With the Southern Poverty Law Center, which labels the ADF a ‘hate group.’ The designation had nothing to do with the law firm’s policies or behavior. It’s just that the SPLC objects to its traditional views on the Constitution, the First Amendment and the meaning of marriage.
Another Reddit user said that community members should “show up, make our voices heard, and then leave. We will continue protesting outside.” The same user asked potential protestors to not disrupt or stop the event.
Wickham categorically denied that the group purposefully scheduled the event on the Transgender Day of Visibility. He added that the group gave the speakers many potential dates and that this one worked best for the Cornell professor speaking on the panel. Wickham noted that the Federalist Society chapter schedules many debates, sometimes twice a week. Because of this, he said that at least one event was bound to fall on an important date for a community.
In response to the event, OutLaw — Cornell Law School’s LGBTQIA+ student organization — issued a statement asking students to “refrain from protesting the event directly and avoid adding fuel to ADF’s sense of grievance.” The group emphasized: “We do not challenge Mr. Lorence’s right to speak wherever he wishes, and we are not seeking to prevent this event.” Instead of disrupting the debate, the organization urged community members to not attend, adding: “Free speech entitles a speaker to the opportunity to speak but does not guarantee an audience.”
Wickham told the Review, “The Cornell Federalist Society fully supports OutLaw’s right to write a letter or protest the event,” adding, “In fact, the Federalist Society does not take any positions on issues. Even members of our clubs often disagree with our speaker choices, but they respect the rights of our speakers.”
On Monday, Wickham said it became clear, though social media posts, that protests were brewing among undergraduate students. He added that the law school administrators, specifically the Dean of Students Office and building facilities gave time on short-notice to ensure that the event ran smoothly. Wickham remarked:
I consider Cornell’s response to this event a model university response. Without the administration and Cornell police, this might have turned into a similar event to the Yale Law School Federalist Society event two weeks ago with an Alliance Defending Freedom speaker.
Sources at the event said that organizers were checking student IDs and limiting the event to law school students. A comment by a Reddit user seemed to confirm this new development.
Photos posted online and taken by students seem to indicate at least 30 or 40 showed up to protest outside Myron Taylor Hall on Thursday evening. Wickham said that the debate’s organizers counted 152 protesters, noting that they stayed outside for most of the event and came into the hallways as the event took place. He noted that the event was not disrupted.
Additionally, protesters plastered pro-LGBTQ+ messages using chalk on the walls of Myron Taylor Hall. Messages included “Trans Lives Matter,” “Protect Trans Youth,” and “Love is Love.” Current university policy allows for chalking “only on horizontal, concrete, granite, or asphalt surfaces where the rain will wash away the residue completely after one or two rainfalls, snowstorms.” If there is no precipitation, chalking “must wear away after one week (seven days) of foot traffic.”
This is not the first time a Federalist Society event has been faced with potential disruption. The Yale Federalist Society’s event on civil liberties, which also featured a speaker from the Alliance Defending Freedom, was disrupted earlier this month. Famously, a Yale professor introducing the event’s speakers told students to “grow up.”
