Over 175 law profs protest rescinding of University of Arkansas law school deanship offer
More than 175 law professors pushed back against the University of Arkansas’ decision to reverse its offer of the law school deanship to Emily Suski, who signed an amicus brief at the U.S. Supreme Court supporting transgender student athletes. (Photo courtesy of the University of Arkansas)
More than 175 law professors pushed back against the University of Arkansas’ decision to reverse its offer of the law school deanship to Emily Suski, who signed an amicus brief at the U.S. Supreme Court supporting transgender student athletes.
“As lawyers and law professors, we are deeply disturbed by the process that yielded this result and its consequences for academic freedom and the full participation of academics in the legal process,” the signatories wrote in the Feb. 1 letter obtained by Law.com and addressed to Jay B. Silveria, the university’s president, and Indrajeet Chaubey, the school’s provost.
It was sent electronically to the Arkansas General Assembly and Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, according to the story.
Suski’s appointment to the University of Arkansas School of Law was announced Jan. 9, but the following week, the university announced that it was moving in a “different direction” after receiving “feedback from key external stakeholders about the fit between Professor Suski and the university’s vacancy,” according to Law360.
The Supreme Court is considering challenges to West Virginia and Idaho laws that ban transgender athletes’ participation in sports.
Suski, previously a law professor and an associate dean at the University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law, signed an amicus brief, along with 16 other law professors, in November.
The Feb. 1 letter follows protests by university students, who had a peaceful “funeral march” Jan. 20, according to Law.com.
The law school has been conducting a dean search since Margaret Sova McCabe stepped down at the end of 2021 to become a senior adviser for strategic projects and a law professor at the university.
The university “is currently determining next steps and will select her successor in consultation with school of law faculty, staff and students,” according to a Jan. 22 update of the university’s website.
Cynthia Nance will continue to serve as dean of the law school through June 30, according to the update.
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