Amar and the Constitution in Scarsdale

Yale Prof. Akhil Reed Amar spoke at the Scarsdale Library, May 10, and his lecture was like "a really good Yale lecture that had students hanging out after class."  (YWAA photos)

By all accounts from New Haven, Yale Law School Professor Akhil Reed Amar '80 '84JD is a favorite, popular lecturer on campus, an experienced instructor who brings  content to life and keeps students on edges of seats begging for more.  He is an expert on the U.S. Constitution and--just as much--an expert in analyzing what Founding Fathers might have had in mind and explaining the vast interpretations of the old document.

As part of YWAA's lecture series, Amar spoke to alumni, guests and neighbors in Scarsdale, May 10, and bedazzled his audience in the  way he thrills his students in the Law School and at Yale College. In his mostly extemporaneous talk, which included a lively Q-and-A session, Amar was exuberant, engaged, and entertaining.

His talk, "The Constitution and the Presidential Election of 2016,"  touched all bases and hot buttons--from the left to the right, referring occasionally to analyses from one of his many books.

His latest book, The Law of the Land:  A Grand Tour of our Constitutional Republic, was published last year. He is finishing a book, The Constitution Today:  Timeless Lessons for the Issues of Our Era, that will be published in late 2016. He has written opinion pieces on current issues and the Constitution for The New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Atlantic.

Amar knew his audience, which included lawyers who learned a little bit more about Constitutional law and non-lawyers who followed him in step and were inspired to spar with him to ask him anything they wished. It was like, one observer said, "a really good Yale lecture that had students hanging out after class for more questions and arguments after class."

The YWAA series, led and organized by YWAA board member and treasurer Rich Fabbro '76, invites prominent Yale professors to Westchester to lead discussions on their areas of expertise, favorite projects and programs or recent publications. The Scarsdale event was hosted by YWAA board members Fabbro and B.K. Munguia '75.