Embattled University of California Irvine Chancellor Michael V. Drake acknowledges that he "bungled" in firing Erwin Chemerinsky as dean of the university's new law school and said he regretted the way he handled the matter. Drake wouldn't discuss why he rescinded his offer to Chemerinsky, an outspoken Duke University law professor and constitutional scholar, because it was a personnel matter that must be kept private. After Chemerinsky's firing prompted a national uproar, Drake rehired him.
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EARLIER: Let’s say you want to start a law school. Now let’s say you want it to fail. There are a lot of ways to go about this, but it would be hard to top the tactics of the UC Irvine. To read The New York Times article, click here.
The chancellor of University of California, Irvine, trying to salvage the reputation of his fledgling law school, has reinstated Erwin Chemerinsky as its founding dean, but the chancellor's troubles persisted as faculty members continued to question why he had sacked the liberal scholar and contemplated taking action against their university's leader. The agreement with Chemerinsky, made five days after the deanship was rescinded, came after Chancellor Michael V. Drake and his wife flew to Durham, N.C., over the weekend so the two men could speak face to face.
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University of California, Irvine, officials are attempting to broker a deal to once again hire Erwin Chemerinsky as dean of its fledging law school, just three days after its chancellor set off a national furor by dumping him. Chemerinsky, who would have been the school's first dean, was noncommittal about whether he still would take the UCI job. An agreement would be an extraordinary development after Chemerinsky contended this week that Drake succumbed to political pressure from conservatives and sacked him because of his outspoken liberal positions. The flap threatened to derail the 2009 opening of the law school and prompted some calls for Drake's resignation.
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SIDEBAR: Law school deans differ on advocacy roles: Some believe they must curb their activism in the interest of their institution; others say they retain their right to speak freely.
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Plans to open a law school at the University of California, Irvine, in 2009 could be set back after Chancellor Michael V. Drake abruptly dropped scholar Erwin Chemerinsky as the school's first dean. Drake says he lost confidence in the educator, in part, because of Chemerinsky's recent opinion articles that made him a "lightning rod," including a scathing rebuke of U.S. Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales. The turnaround on Chemerinsky could delay the opening of the law school and make it difficult to assemble the scholars and staff needed to establish the school as one of the nation's best. The action also has ignited a debate about academic freedom and political meddling; some faculty members are calling for Drake's resignation.
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