When some students took offense, Rosenberg issued a statement to clarify what he said in class.

“What I criticized was strands of black scholarship—notably, black studies and its contributions to critical race theory and various other areas...I said that this scholarship does not enhance understanding of tort theory and I stand fully behind my criticism,” the statement reads.

Rakoff said that while HLS takes the concerns of the BLSA very seriously, there are no plans to reprimand either Nesson or Rosenberg.

“I’ve spoken to both professors about the incident but there is no plan of doing anything further,” Rakoff said.

“We want to make a Law School in which we can discuss hard issues, in the classroom and out of the classroom, so that people end up learning from the discussion rather than just getting mad,” Rakoff said.

Nesson said that while he disagrees with the BLSA letter, he respects the opinions of the association.

“I don’t agree with their position...that an issue that arose in our class shouldn’t be discussed in our class,” said Nesson. “[But] I respect it, because it has been done in a very civil and lawyerly way.”

“I responded to the BLSA letter by saying I’d be happy to appear at any time to respond to their concerns, subject only to the requirement that it be recorded,” Nesson continued, “and I was verbally informed that they did not want this.”

—Staff writer Joseph P. Flood can be reached at flood@fas.harvard.edu.