Will Harvard Law School’s seal change affect the Woodrow Wilson debate?
What does it mean for us?
Earlier today, a committee from the Harvard Law School proposed a change to the seal of the school.
The seal depicts three wheat sheaves underneath the Harvard motto: the wheat is the coat-of-arms of the Royall family, a slave owning family which helped establish the school.
There has not been a decision on what the new seal would be as of yet.
The move to change the seal was spearheaded by the student group Royall Must Fall who describes themselves as a “movement of students calling for the decolonization of our campus, the symbols, the curriculum and the history of Harvard Law School.”
The committee that made the recommendation was similar to the one which President Eisgruber established to examine the legacy of Woodrow Wilson and to help decide whether Woody Woo should be renamed.
Things have continued to move forward in the debate concerning the Wilson’s legacy, including a debate held by the Whig-Cliosophic Society last Wednesday.
The debate featured four speakers from the society, and was then opened to debate on the floor.
Several of the 100 people in attendance debated the changing of the name for over an hour, after which a vote was taken in which students narrowly displayed a preference to keep the name, 37-33.
The committee was also on campus two weeks ago, hearing from students from both sides.
Could the change of Harvard’s seal could be an indicator for the fate of the Wilson School?
Harvard Law School has been one of the foremost law schools in the nation, and a change to their seal which has been around for centuries could set a precedent for the changing of the name of the school.