Growing up in Philadelphia in the 1960s, Christopher Edley Jr., dean of the flagship law school of the University of California, learned early about racial discrimination. After all, his father, one of the few African-American graduates in Harvard Law School�s class of 1953, could not get a job in a Philadelphia law firm.
ââ?¬Å?Theyââ?¬â?¢d hired William T. Coleman from Harvard a couple of years earlier,ââ?¬Â Mr. Edley recalled, referring to the former transportation secretary, and ardent defender of civil rights. ââ?¬Å?And they were waiting to see how that experiment worked out before hiring another one.ââ?¬Â