[NYTr] Chemerinsky: In Face of Furor, Univ of Calif Irvine Backs Down

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Prior article:
Erwin Chemerinsky and the Post-9/11 Attack on Academic Freedom
https://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/Week-of-Mon-20070917/068610.html

The New York Times - Sep 18, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/18/education/18professor.html

Furor Ends in Deanship for Liberal Scholar

By ADAM LIPTAK

After backing out of a deal last week, the University of California,
Irvine, reversed course yesterday and announced that it was hiring
Erwin Chemerinsky, a liberal law professor, to be dean of its new law
school after all.

The decision followed five days of gale-force criticism from campuses
around the nation, almost all of it centered on accusations that the
university allowed politics to interfere with academic freedom when it
withdrew its offer to Professor Chemerinsky last week.

In a conference call with reporters yesterday, Professor Chemerinsky
and Irvine’s chancellor, Michael V. Drake, gave few details about what
had led to their reconciliation. But it was clear that Dr. Drake had
gone to considerable lengths to patch things up, flying to North
Carolina and spending the better part of Sunday with Professor
Chemerinsky, a member of the Duke law faculty, at his home in Durham.

“I needed more comfort,” Dr. Drake said. “I have developed that
comfort.”

Professor Chemerinsky was first offered the job in August. After weeks
of discussion about his role and the mission of the new law school,
which is to open in 2009, he signed a contract on Sept. 4.

A week later, Dr. Drake flew to North Carolina to withdraw the offer.
By Professor Chemerinsky’s account, which he reaffirmed yesterday, Dr.
Drake said the professor was “too politically controversial,” pointing
to an Aug. 16 op-ed article in The Los Angeles Times in which he
criticized a plan to speed up death penalty appeals.

In an interview last week, Dr. Drake said the problem was not the
substance of Professor Chemerinsky’s views but rather “his
larger-than-life voice.”

Professor Chemerinsky has for decades been a prominent liberal public
intellectual and litigator, and he has written scores of opinion
articles taking liberal positions.

Dr. Drake denied yesterday that he had been urged to withdraw the
appointment by conservative donors. “There was no pressure to withdraw
the offer,” he said.

But he indicated that he had at least listened to some critics. “Since
Professor Chemerinsky is a public figure, people have different
opinions,” Dr. Drake said.

The decision to withdraw the offer was almost universally condemned by
legal scholars across the political spectrum last week.

Dr. Drake declined to say yesterday what accommodation the two men had
reached about Professor Chemerinsky’s public role. “We’re not going to
talk about the discussion per se,” Dr. Drake said.

A joint statement issued yesterday was no less cryptic. “Many issues
were addressed in depth, including several areas of miscommunication
and misunderstanding,” the statement said. “All issues were resolved to
our mutual satisfaction.”

Dr. Drake did say that “I’ve never instructed any dean about any aspect
of academic freedom.”

For his part, Professor Chemerinsky said, “I would never accept a
faculty position, a dean position or any other position where I felt I
was being muzzled.” He added that he would continue to write opinion
articles but would be mindful of his new role.

Professor Chemerinsky said that neither the terms of his contract nor a
memorandum on the mission of the new law school had changed. His
appointment remains contingent on the approval of the University of
California’s board of regents.

Looking forward, Professor Chemerinsky said, “I want to build a law
school that is as diverse as possible, in all ways.”

On the Irvine campus yesterday, there was wary satisfaction.

“One obviously is hoping that it represents a renewed commitment to the
things the university takes to be its underlying principles,” said
David T. Goldberg, a professor of comparative literature. He said he
was referring primarily to integrity and academic freedom.

“We will have to see how this plays out,” said Professor Goldberg, who
had prepared an open letter to Dr. Drake severely critical of his
decision to withdraw the offer. By yesterday afternoon, almost 700
people had signed it.

Dr. Drake said that he had turned his attention to helping the new dean
build a great law school. Their rocky start, he said, will soon be
forgotten.

“Every relationship has bumps,” Dr. Drake said.