• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Ex-PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi worked from midnight until 5 a.m. as a receptionist to pay for her Yale degree—and she says ‘respect went up’ because of it

2

Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary says if he were 25 today, he'd chase these two booming opportunities in the world of AI

3

Current price of oil as of July 6, 2026

1

Ex-PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi worked from midnight until 5 a.m. as a receptionist to pay for her Yale degree—and she says ‘respect went up’ because of it

2

Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary says if he were 25 today, he'd chase these two booming opportunities in the world of AI

3

Current price of oil as of July 6, 2026
Leadership

One Thing Trump Nominee Brett Kavanaugh Won’t Change Is the Supreme Court’s Harvard-Yale Monopoly

By
Natasha Bach
Natasha Bach
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Natasha Bach
Natasha Bach
Down Arrow Button Icon
July 10, 2018, 5:26 AM ET
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Brett Kavanaugh is officially President Trump’s Supreme Court Justice nominee, and he’s a fairly conventional pick for a very unconventional president.

Tather than pivoting away from the establishment as he has sought to do in other political matters, Trump has chosen a nominee that has Ivy League establishment credentials—like every other Justice currently on the bench.

Nine of the nine Justices, including outgoing Justice Kennedy, received their law degree from an Ivy League school. Five of the Justices went to Harvard, three to Yale, and Justice Ginsburg attended Harvard before transferring to and graduating from Columbia Law School. Kavanaugh, who received his degree from Yale Law, will continue this trend, albeit rebalancing the distribution between Harvard and Yale on the bench.

This is not simply a trend of the current Supreme Court bench: Every Supreme Court Justice appointed since the ‘80s has attended an Ivy League law school, and all of them went to Harvard or Yale—with the exception of Justice Ginsburg.

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who was appointed by then-President Reagan in 1981, received her law degree from Stanford University. She was the last Justice appointed who did not go to an Ivy League school, and was also the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court. She retired in 2006.

Justice William Rehnquist who served on the Supreme Court from 1972 until his death in 2005, also received his law degree from Stanford University. And Justice John Paul Stevens, who served from 1975 until his retirement in 2010, graduated from Northwestern University School of Law.

Of the 114 Justices who have served on the Supreme Court to date, more than half have attended an Ivy League school at the undergraduate, graduate, or law school level. Between 1950 and 2009, 70% of the Justices fell into this category.

While Harvard and Yale (and Columbia) are undoubtedly some of the most well-regarded and prestigious universities in the country, many have expressed concern about the homogeneity of the Court’s makeup.

Dan Glickman, the Vice President of the Aspen Institute and a former Congressman and Secretary of Agriculture, summed up the critical view in a 2016 article:

“When an individual is able to, through force of intellect, matriculate and excel at Harvard or Yale Law they prove beyond a shadow of a doubt they are among the top minds in America’s legal community. However, there is a certain cloistered nature to joining this elite community. People of this pedigree often live in a world that does not necessarily parallel the life experiences of most Americans. And that is where more diversity is needed.”

About the Author
By Natasha Bach
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Leadership

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Leadership

Meet the former Goldman Sachs exec who became the America’s Cup Partnership’s first CEO and is running the 175-year-old trophy like a startup
C-SuiteSports
Meet the former Goldman Sachs exec who became the America’s Cup Partnership’s first CEO and is running the 175-year-old trophy like a startup
By Catherina GioinoJuly 7, 2026
37 minutes ago
Scott Wu, in front of a blue background, sits in a gray chair and speaks to a person out of frame.
AIProductivity
Cognition CEO says tech companies got ‘carried away’ with token leaderboards and should measure employees on output instead
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 7, 2026
2 hours ago
Bill Holland gesturing
SuccessCareers
He went from working in a factory to being rich enough to retire at 32—but 3 decades later, this millionaire still works and takes public transport
By Preston ForeJuly 7, 2026
4 hours ago
Tech worker walks to office
SuccessJobs
AI start-ups are snubbing entry-level talent in favor of Silicon Valley men with top degrees, research shows
By Emma BurleighJuly 7, 2026
4 hours ago
bernie
PoliticsBook Excerpt
Bernie Sanders told me exactly why he had to run. The Democratic Party still isn’t listening
By Tad DevineJuly 7, 2026
8 hours ago
heat
Commentaryclimate change
McKinsey Global Institute: Climate planning has prioritized floods. Heat demands equal attention
By Sylvain Johansson, Mekala Krishnan, Kanmani Chockalingam and Annabel FarrJuly 7, 2026
9 hours ago

Most Popular

Ex-PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi worked from midnight until 5 a.m. as a receptionist to pay for her Yale degree—and she says ‘respect went up’ because of it
Success
Ex-PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi worked from midnight until 5 a.m. as a receptionist to pay for her Yale degree—and she says ‘respect went up’ because of it
By Preston ForeJuly 6, 2026
1 day ago
Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary says if he were 25 today, he'd chase these two booming opportunities in the world of AI
AI
Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary says if he were 25 today, he'd chase these two booming opportunities in the world of AI
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJuly 5, 2026
2 days ago
Current price of oil as of July 6, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of July 6, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 6, 2026
1 day ago
Even as Elon Musk calls philanthropy ‘very hard,’ everyday Americans gave a record $617 billion—despite feeling the squeeze over the cost of living
Success
Even as Elon Musk calls philanthropy ‘very hard,’ everyday Americans gave a record $617 billion—despite feeling the squeeze over the cost of living
By Preston ForeJuly 4, 2026
4 days ago
The man who ran Bernie's campaign says Democrats are still making the same mistakes with Democratic Socialists, and they should laud Mamdani's win
Politics
The man who ran Bernie's campaign says Democrats are still making the same mistakes with Democratic Socialists, and they should laud Mamdani's win
By Catherina GioinoJuly 6, 2026
22 hours ago
China’s birth rate just hit its lowest point since 1949—and Trip.com cofounder James Liang thinks that’s a threat to innovation
Asia
China’s birth rate just hit its lowest point since 1949—and Trip.com cofounder James Liang thinks that’s a threat to innovation
By Nicholas GordonJuly 7, 2026
13 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.