Columbia Law Allows Students To Postpone Finals Due To Trauma From The Grand Jury Rulings

http://news.yahoo.com/columbia-law-school-lets--traumatized--students-postpone-finals-after-non-indictments-in-eric-garner--michael-brown-cases-170145848.html;_ylt=AwrBT9NCcodUwB8AJX5XNyoA

Yahoo News- Columbia Law School will let students postpone their final exams if they say they feel traumatized by the polarizing grand jury decisions not to indict police officers in the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner.

Robert E. Scott, the school’s interim dean, announced the decision via email Saturday, citing policies to help students who feel their performance could suffer after distressing experiences.



​A tip of the hat to the irresponsible, hungover law school student that came up with this excuse. That has to be original mastermind behind this idea. There is no way Columbia Law just came out and decided that a large enough portion of their students are going through a traumatic experience caused by a national news story. We're not exactly talking about 9/11 here. We aren't talking about veterans that are back from overseas. We aren't even talking about a sick grandmother. We are talking about a situation that directly affects zero students that attend Columbia. I imagine some schmuck at the bottom of the curve walking in after one too many beers during a night on the town and throwing this excuse against the wall and praying it sticks. 

And guess what…It's fucking genius. Who is a law professor to say how a racial motivated incident should make a student feel? They had to give them the opportunity to postpone finals as soon as one student made a remark about it. Not only that, it directly ties into the content of the finals the students are set to take. A law student could absolutely make the claim that they no longer trust the legal process after both officers were let off without an indictment. It would be bullshit, just like when I told my professor I needed an extension because my car broke down on the way back from Spring Break, but it works just as well.

I'm not saying that the grand jury decisions aren't enough to illicit an emotional response from students of all backgrounds. I'm just saying that calling it "traumatic" is a bit of a stretch. You can feel some type of way about the grand jury decisions without it affecting your day to day life. Maybe as a minority, or as a person that is close to someone in law enforcement, you could claim it is more disturbing to you. Still, traumatic is such an exaggeration.  Let's save the trauma for the friends and family of the deceased. Let's not trivialize what they have had to go through.

If you feel the need to picket and protest at the expense of your school work then you don't deserve to pass your finals. Plus, if you can't deal with one or two guilty officers walking free you may have chosen the wrong career path. If you plan on spending the rest of your life defending the innocent then chances are those finals are about to serve you a strong dose of reality. Consider these rulings a blessing in disguise and accept that you don't have the stones for the courtroom.