Dec 10, 2014 11:39 AM EST By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

Students at three of the most prestigious law schools in the U.S. are seeking to have their final exams delayed due to their involvement in demonstrations relating to the Grand Jury decisions on the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner.

According to the Associated Press, minority students at the law schools of Columbia, Harvard and Georgetown are all arguing that they have not had time to study. Aside from the widespread protests, many students and some faculty members have written op-eds, organized their own demonstrations and participated in other ways as well.

A young, unarmed black male, Brown was shot and killed by a white police officer whereas Garner, also unarmed, was placed in a chokehold that experts believed led to a asthma attack that killed him. In both cases, the Grand Jury decided against indicting the police officer responsible, allowing both to avoid a courtroom all together.

At Harvard Law, a coalition of minority students called the decisions a "national tragedy" and were compelled to raise their voices because it is their chosen field of study. In an open letter to the school's leadership released over the weekend, they criticized them for not taking a stance, the AP reported.

"We led rallies, held vigils, and published an op­ed. You were silent on this issue," read the letter. "We petitioned the government, served as legal observers, created spaces of solidarity, drafted model legislation, and marched through the streets of Boston and Cambridge."

Elizabeth Schmalz, a spokeswoman for Columbia University, confirmed to the New York Times on Monday that a small number of law students would be allowed to have their final exams delayed.

"The grand juries' determinations to return nonindictments in the Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases have shaken the faith of some in the integrity of the grand jury system and in the law more generally," Robert E. Scott, Columbia Law's interim dean, wrote in a recent email to the student body. "For some law students, particularly, though not only, students of color, this chain of events is all the more profound as it threatens to undermine a sense that the law is a fundamental pillar of society designed to protect fairness, due process and equality."

The announcement was unsurprisingly polarizing amid faculty and professionals contacted by the Times. An NYU law professor said Columbia was being empathetic while a defense attorney said the students should learn to handle "difficult situations" better.

See Now: Covert Team Inside Newsweek Revealed as Key Players in False Human Trafficking Lawsuit