Thursday, September 13th, 2007
The ultimate goal of the “academic freedom” crowd: Stalinist purges
UC Irvine law school’s inaugural dean’s tenure measured in days - political reasons cited. (hat tip, Atrios)
About a week ago, Erwin Chemerinsky, the well-known constitutional law scholar at Duke, signed a contract to be the inaugural Dean of the new law school at the University of California at Irvine.
Yesterday, the Chancellor of the University of Cailfornia at Irvine flew to Durham 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.
It is quite amazing that in a purportedly liberal state like California, the Chancellor of a major UC campus has apparently caved into political pressure from conservatives, even though, on the merits, Chemerinsky was a far more prominent scholar than the University had any reason to suppose it would be able to land for a brand new law school.
It’s fair to say that the future does not look bright for the planned UC Irvine law school. Who will take the job now given this history?
Patriotic correctness strikes again. I’m sure this news will send David Horowitz into paroxysms of one-handed typing.
