Law school could lose $3M in funding; are lawmakers penalizing outspoken prof?
The University of North Carolina School of Law could lose $3 million in state funding—amounting to more than 10 percent of its budget—as a result of a proposal by a Republican state senator.
The North Carolina Senate last week passed the budget cut proposed by State Sen. Tom Apodaca and sent the budget to the House, report the National Law Journal (sub. req.), WRAL and the Durham Herald-Sun.
Apodaca proposed the $3 million go instead to a health education center in his district. He said the law school is actually making money, according to WRAL. “So, I think we can rest assured they’ll be able to churn out as many lawyers this year as they did last year.”
Some Democrats speculated the budget cut may be intended to punish the law school for an outspoken law professor, Gene Nichol, who has been critical of Republicans. The cut could also be intended as a bargaining chip in budget negotiations, one Democrat told the Herald-Sun.
In a 2013 newspaper op-ed, Nichol criticized the Republican governor for backing a voter ID requirement and compared him to prior segregationist governors.
