Updates

Koh still not approved for State Department post

President Obama's appointment of Law School dean Harold Hongju Koh to run the State Department's Office of Legal Counsel ("Law School Dean Named to State Department Post")was still awaiting confirmation by the Senate as this magazine went to press. Koh was approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in a 12-5 vote on May 12, but a pair of Republican senators placed a "hold" on the nomination in June, making it uncertain when action would be taken. Koh has been criticized for his views on the relevance of international law in the U.S. legal system.

Jovin investigators seek help at reunion

Reuniongoers in the Class of 1999 this June each received a letter from Vice President and Secretary Linda Koch Lorimer '77JD, asking for help in the investigation of the 1998 murder of their classmate Suzanne Jovin. No one has ever been charged in the Jovin killing. A team of retired state police detectives took over the case in 2006 ("New Leads in a Cold Case") and has been revisiting old evidence and seeking new information.

Mory's makes progress toward reopening

Mory's, which closed in December due to financial problems("Struggling Mory's Closes its Doors"), recently received two boosts in its effort to reopen. In June, the city approved the club's remodeling plans, and the university agreed that alumni who contribute to Mory's before December 31 can count the donation toward their next reunion class gift. The Mory's board hopes to reopen the club in November.

Counterclaim filed in Van Gogh suit

Two months after Yale filed a lawsuit seeking to protect its title to the famous Van Gogh painting The Night Cafe ("Yale Sues to Protect its Van Gogh"), the man who says the painting is his has filed a counterclaim. Pierre Konowaloff, great-grandson of the man who owned the work before it was taken by the Soviet government in 1918, says Yale exercised "willful ignorance" of the Van Gogh's status as "Bolshevik looted art" when it accepted the painting as a donation in 1961. For more coverage, and to read Yale's and Konowaloff's complaints, see "Counterclaim in Night Cafe Lawsuit."