Law Schools
UC Irvine Official on Hot Seat in Dean Case
Posted Sep 14, 2007, 06:05 pm CST
By Martha Neil
In a rapid-fire change of circumstances, the UC Irvine official who made a controversial decision to fire a renowned constitutional scholar who had just agreed to serve as dean of the institution's as-yet-unopened new law school is now himself in hot water.
Some faculty are now calling for Michael Drake, who serves as chancellor of the University of California at Irvine, to resign over his decision to rescind the recommended appointment of Erwin Chemerinsky, a constitutional law professor at Duke University, as law school dean. Meanwhile, there are concerns that the affair will make it difficult for the law school to hire another high-caliber dean and desired faculty, and could delay the law school's scheduled 2009 opening, reports the Los Angeles Times.
As discussed in earlier ABAJournal.com posts, Chemerinsky says he was told by Drake that the university regents might not confirm him because of his liberal political views, but Drake says there were other unspecified reasons for his decision to look for another dean.
Many of those criticizing Drake's decision see the situation as a matter of upholding academic freedom against political pressure from an unknown source. An impressive array of legal academics, including well-known conservatives, have rallied to Chemerinsky's support, saying he is a top-flight candidate who UC Irvine would have been lucky to have as law school dean.
However, other critics are focusing on the way the situation has been handled, according to the Times.
"If it's a matter of outside pressure, the chancellor should have stood up to that," says Frank Bean, a social sciences professor. "If it's a matter of concerns over Chemerinsky, why wasn't due diligence done? There are no scenarios that one can construct that are acceptable. Rarely are things so clear-cut."
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Posted by Christina Gagnier - 1 year, 3 months, 3 weeks, 4 days, 20 hours, 8 minutes ago
Burning Bridges
As an alumna of the University of California, Irvine, I was alarmed to read, in practically every form of modern media within hours, of the UC Irvine administration’s decision to reject Erwin Chemerinsky as the Dean for the forthcoming Donald Bren School of Law.
My advice to UC Irvine: Do not burn bridges that are not your own to burn.
Despite the “legacy” of scandal that is often pointed out, UC Irvine is a mixture of talented faculty and students who are some of the brightest and dynamic individuals in higher education today. As someone who dedicated her undergraduate career to student leadership on campus, took advantage of the university’s Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, and was an honors student within its School of Social Sciences, I saw my time dedicated to UC Irvine as a way to build bridges for myself and the university at large. For many of my fellow Anteaters, their course was quite similar, attending the most prestigious law schools in the country and practicing at the most renowned firms.
These alumni contribute to legal scholarship and the integrity of the profession, donating time to legal aid, editing for journals, and researching issues of great import to the evolution of the law. In my experience, this work was inspired by the dedicated faculty with the School of Social Sciences, whose undergraduate emphasis in Public Law within the Political Science program equipped me with the tools to succeed in the study of the law. From courses in free expression, race and the law, exploring the legal implications of the drug trade, and debating the state of the legal profession, this program, complimented by the Law Forum certificate program, provides training and inspiration to aspiring lawyers and scholars. It was my own experience with my thesis advisor who introduced me to cyberspace law that drives my research and career today.
It is a personal affront to all of these people for UC Irvine to fly in the face of the spirit of academic freedom by snubbing an individual who is one of the foremost constitutional scholars of our time. Students across the country have their Constitutional Law courses directed by his text. Whether you agree with Chemerinsky or not, he has exposed many of us to the fundamentals of constitutional jurisprudence.
I do not posit to fully understand the complexities that fall upon universities. But at the point where upon appearance it seems purse strings and political pressures are affecting clear judgment, something is amiss.
The university has advanced that its law school is the first “public law school in California in 40 years.” Seeing as though the California Postsecondary Education Commission has voiced its opinion on the school in a negative manner, along with many others in California, the decision to oust Chemerinsky, who would do wonders for the reputation of the university, is nothing but foolish.
To borrow some wisdom from a slogan used several years ago in a California student campaign, I have to ask the question: Whose university is this? The answer that the administration needs to soon realize is that this is OUR university. It belongs to the faculty, the staff, the current students, the alumni, and not least, the citizens of the State of California.
It is these people that have built UC Irvine’s bridges since 1965. The torch in the university seal is meant to represent the light that education sheds, not to serve as a new appropriated symbol for the bridge burning the university has engaged in. I just ask that UC Irvine administration handle its torch with care in the future.