I wonder if Bobby Braddock has an insight on this issue in his song about cultural differences between the "jet set" and the "Chevro-let set":
No, We're not the jet set
We're the old Chevro-let set
Our steak and martinis
Is draft beer with weenies
Our Bach and Tchaikovsky
Is Haggard and Husky
No, we're not the jet set
We're the old Chevro-let set
But ain't we got love
Did the Court defer to fellow academic "jet setters" at Michigan Law while refusing to defer to "Chevro-let setters" on the VMI faculty?
Does cultural power, as opposed to the rule of law, explain at least some of the Court's SDP and Equal Protection decisions?
