Every year, the American Bar Association presents the Law School Newspaper Award to the best student-run newspaper organization at an ABA-approved law school. This year, The Harvard Law Record was honored to receive this coveted award.
Since 1946, The Harvard Law Record has been an independent and nonpartisan paper, whose contributors have included President Barack Obama ’91; Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist; consumer advocate and presidential candidate Ralph Nader ’58; and writers who have gone on to win Pulitzer, O. Henry, and PEN Prizes.
The Record serves as a forum for students, professors, and alumni to debate opinions spanning the political and ideological spectrum. During the past academic year, the Record covered a number of campus developments, including student activism addressing issues of race and diversity, and the debate over the proposed retirement of the Harvard Law Shield because of its historical ties to a family of slaveholders.
“I’m especially proud that during such a controversial year, our team maintained an ethos of objectivity, fairness, and professionalism,” said Michael Shammas ’16, Harvard Law Record 2015-2016 editor-in-chief. “Serving as editor-in-chief was, simultaneously, my most rewarding and demanding experience at Harvard Law School. Were it not for my duties on the Record, I wouldn’t have met so many fascinating students with such immensely divergent views on politics and law. By serving as a forum for students of all ideologies, I hope the Record continues to enrich our campus debate and to foster attempts not merely to listen, but also to understand.”
Lindsay Church ’16, who served as The Record’s co-editor-in-chief during the 2015-2016 academic year, said: “Throughout the past year, The Record has fostered a community that encourages viewpoints from across the political spectrum. Our staff recognizes the importance in meaningful debate over pressing issues both within and beyond the HLS community. Despite a range of ideological stances, our underlying goal remains the same: to maintain an unwavering commitment to open discussion and to invite students, faculty, and staff to have essential dialogue that goes beyond conversations in the classroom. We are honored to be recognized by the ABA and hope The Record‘s role in these important conversations continues for years to come.”
The Record’s staff, officers, and directors are currently-enrolled students at Harvard Law School and volunteers who do not receive academic credit for their work. The print edition of The Record is published bi-monthly and distributed to the HLS community of 1,800 students, faculty, and staff. The Record’s online articles and opinion pieces and opinion pieces frequently reach tens of thousands of readers, inside and outside of the HLS community.
During the 2015-16 academic year, The Record‘s stories were referenced in the Washington Post, the New York Times, Above the Law, the American Lawyer, NPR, and Fox News, among others.
Its current editors-in-chief are Jim An ’18 and Brianna Rennix ’18.