Damage Control: Yale Law School Scrubs Administrator Profiles from Website
25th October 2021
ale Law School’s Office of Student Affairs has removed all administrator profiles from its website “to protect staff members” in the wake of widespread outrage about the school’s treatment of Trent Colbert, the second-year law student who invited classmates to his “trap house,” according to a university spokeswoman.
Two of those administrators, Yale Law diversity director Yaseen Eldik and Associate Dean Ellen Cosgrove, suggested that Colbert could have trouble with the bar if he didn’t apologize for his invitation. That wasn’t an empty threat: According to a now-deleted version of the student affairs website, Cosgrove’s remit involves the bar exam’s “character and fitness” investigations, which review aspiring lawyers’ disciplinary records in considerable detail.
Eldik’s profile is no longer viewable on any Yale Law website, though he remains listed as a “discrimination and harassment resource coordinator” with the university. An entry for Cosgrove—which contains no mention of her “character and fitness” duties—is still viewable on the law school’s main website. Archived web pages indicate that the profiles were scrubbed between Oct. 13 and Oct. 18.