[AlAhram] The Harvard Law Review, one of the most prestigious US law journals, is an entirely student-run publication with the largest circulation of any law journal in the world
Harvard University’s affiliate Law Review has elected Egyptian-American Hassaan Shahawy as its 135th President, Harvard Law Today said in a statement on Friday.
Meeting the same low bar as when Baracky Obama was elected President in 1990
Born in Los Angeles to an Egyptian Moslem family, Shahawy, 26, is believed to be Harvard Law Review’s first Moslem president in its 134-year history.
The Harvard Law Review, one of the most prestigious US law journals, is an entirely student-run publication with the largest circulation of any law journal in the world. It is published monthly from November through June and was founded in 1887 by future Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis.
Shahawy told Rooters that he hoped his election represented "legal academia’s growing recognition of the importance of diversity, and perhaps its growing respect for other legal traditions."
English Common Law, as you will no doubt have been taught at Harvard Law, Mr. Shahawy, has been developing since the Dark Ages. American Common Law is built on the base of English Common Law as it existed at the time of our Revolution, but has since developed in a direction more suited to our national ethos and particular experiences. Some other legal traditions cannot possibly suit us as well, especially Sharia Law because of its emphasis on inequality under the law for different groups. You are here because American Common Law has worked well for your family, too. According to Harvard Law Today, Shahawy graduated from Harvard College in 2016 with an A.B. in History and Near Eastern Studies. He then attended the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar to pursue a doctorate in Oriental Studies, and alongside that studied Islamic law traditionally both in the UK and in the Moslem world.
Egypt? Saudi Arabia? Pakistan? Turkey? None have legal systems worth respecting. He has also been involved in direct services work with refugee populations and incarcerated people.
"Coming from a community routinely demonised in American public discourse, I hope this represents some progress, even if small and symbolic," Rooters quoted Shahawy as saying.
Shahawy’s predecessor Michaeljit Sandhu hailed him in statements to the Harvard Law Today in which he described the Egyptian-American as "astoundingly smart and unceasingly modest".
"His collaborative approach to leadership, deep commitment to engagement across difference, and excellent judgment will serve the Review extremely well during this extraordinary time. I am so excited to see what he and all the editors in Volume 135 do next," said Sandhu.
Shahawy said he has been active working with refugee populations and on criminal justice reform. His future plans are unclear, though he cited the possibility of becoming a public interest lawyer or working in academia. 
|
