I promise not to forward any more of these to the list, but the Washington
Post has more details, apparently.

Brook

---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: [Much-ado] Fwd: A washingtonpost.com on Chemerinsky
Date: Thu, September 13, 2007 21:26
To: much-ado@uci.edu
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Washington Post, with Ward Connerly (!) saying that the regents
probably would not have interfered...


><http://www.washingtonpost.com?referrer=emailarticle>
><http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/emailafriend?contentId=AR2007091302226&sent=no&referrer=emailarticle>
>
><http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/13/AR2007091302226.html?referrer=emailarticle>Scholars
>Decry Law School's About-Face on New Dean
>
>
>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/13/AR2007091302226.html?referrer=emailarticle



_______________________________________________
List-Info: https://maillists.uci.edu/mailman/listinfo/much-ado

---

September 14, 2007
EDITORIAL
A Bad Beginning in Irvine

A law school would be mighty fortunate to have Erwin Chemerinsky, a
distinguished Duke Law School professor, as its dean. The University
of California, Irvine, realized this when it asked him to head up its
new law school. This week, however, it rescinded the offer, evidently
because of his political views. It’s a disgraceful decision. The
University of California system should admit its mistake and, with
apologies, extend the offer again.

Mr. Chemerinsky, a constitutional scholar and much-admired teacher,
is one of the shining lights of legal academia. He has also taken his
profession’s public service obligations seriously, working tirelessly
for civil liberties. He argued in the Supreme Court against the
constitutionality of California’s “three strikes and you’re out” law
and agreed to represent Valerie Plame Wilson, the C.I.A. operative
exposed by the Bush administration.

His record made him an ideal choice to run the law school that U.C.-
Irvine plans to open in 2009. Chancellor Michael Drake offered him
the job, and Mr. Chemerinsky signed a contract. But the job was
withdrawn this week. Mr. Chemerinsky says that Mr. Drake told him he
was “too politically controversial” for the appointment, which still
had to be confirmed by the California regents. Mr. Drake does not
dispute those words, but he insisted “it was no one thing” that led
him to withdraw the job, and said vaguely that he doubted he and Mr.
Chemerinsky could work toward a common goal.

Applying an ideological litmus test for academic appointments is
offensive. Good deans also understand their institutional
responsibilities. At Harvard Law School, Elena Kagan, a former
Clinton administration lawyer, has been embraced by both liberals and
conservatives for her inclusive management style. Professor
Chemerinsky made clear that he intended to create a law school that
was neither liberal nor conservative, and he had already recruited
prominent conservatives to serve on its advisory board.

Mr. Drake insisted that he made the decision himself, with no outside
pressure. But his “too politically controversial” comment suggests
otherwise.

If the U.C.-Irvine law school proceeds without Mr. Chemerinsky, it
will open under a cloud. Law professors and students should be wary
of signing on with a school founded in a spirit of intellectual
intolerance. Just as unfortunate, we will never get to see the law
school that the talented Professor Chemerinsky would have created.


Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/14/opinion/14fri3.html?
ei=5070&en=b7828b58c34a4673&ex=1190433600&emc=eta1&pagewanted=print

The LAW. UCI style. UCI LAW, just like the EVC's license plate says....




>>Please take a look at the following.



>><http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2007/09/12/the-oc-law-school-edition/>http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2007/09/12/the-oc-law-school-edition/
>>September 12, 2007, 12:30 pm
>>The O.C. — Law School Edition
>>Posted by Amir Efrati
>>This just in: According to
>><http://www.naymz.com/search/brian/leiter/793046>Brian
>>Leiter’s
>><http://leiterlawschool.typepad.com/leiter/2007/09/new-uc-irvine-l.html>Law
>>School Reports, a blog on comings-and-goings in
>>legal academia, UC Irvine, which recently got
>>approval to start a law school, last week hired
>>Duke’s
>><http://www.law.duke.edu/fac/chemerinsky/>Erwin
>>Chemerinsky, a prominent constitutional law
>>scholar, to be its inaugural dean — and then
>>fired him yesterday because of his political
>>views. (For background, here’s a recent Los
>>Angeles Times
>><http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ucilaw29aug29,1,6705385.story?coll=la-headlines-california>story
>>on Chemerinsky when he was a leading candidate for the job.)
>>According to Leiter’s report, about a week ago
>>Chemerinsky signed a contract to be the dean of
>>Irvine’s <http://www.law.uci.edu/>Donald Bren
>>School of Law. But Yesterday, Irvine’s
>>chancellor,
>><http://www.chancellor.uci.edu/biography.shtml>Michael
>>V. Drake, flew to Duke and fired Chemerinsky,
>>“saying that he had not been aware of how
>>Chemerinsky’s political views would make him a
>>target for criticism from conservatives,” according to the report.
>>The new public law school is expected to begin
>>classes in 2009. (For more on the school’s
>>namesake Donald Bren, a billionaire real estate
>>developer and big Republican
>><http://www.newsmeat.com/billionaire_political_donations/Donald_Bren.php>donor,
>>click <http://www.donald-bren.com/>here.)
>>UPDATE: We’ve spoken to Chemerinsky, who
>>confirmed the account, though he said the
>>chancellor was already in D.C. before he flew
>>to Durham on Tuesday. (The Law Blog has a call in to Chancellor Drake.)
>>Chemerinsky, who was slated to begin at Irvine
>>next summer, said the chancellor “said he
>>hadn’t expected that I would be such a target
>>for conservatives, a lightning rod. It’s clear
>>that significant opposition developed,” though
>>the chancellor didn’t specify where it was coming from.
>>“I’ve been a liberal law professor for 28
>>years,” Chemerinsky said. “I write lots of
>>op-eds and articles, I argue high-profile
>>cases, and I expected there would be some
>>concern about me. My hope was that I’d address
>>it by making the law school open to all viewpoints.”
>>Chemerinsky said he had begun assembling a
>>board of advisors that would have included
>>conservatives such as Viet Dinh, a law
>>professor at Georgetown, and Deanell Reece Tacha, a judge on 10th Circuit.
>>He added: “Obviously I’m sad because it’s
>>something I was exciting about. I’m angry
>>because I don’t believe anyone liberal or
>>conservative should be denied a position like this because of political
views.”
>
>
>--