The Stout Republican

I am a conservative.

Erwin Chemerinsky is a HUGE liberal.

I’ll use Hugh Hewitt’s words:

The Univesrity of California, Irvine is starting a new law school. Given its location and the resources available to it, it could have quickly entered the first ranks of American law schools. It had selected my friend and regular radio guest Duke University Law School Professor Erwin Chemerinsky as the school’s new dean. Erwin is a man of the left, of course, but a remarkably distinguished and accomplished scholar who enjoys the esteem of professors, jurists and practioners across the ideological spectrum.

UCI, for reasons not yet fully disclosed, has now dumped Erwin. Brian Leiter has the details, as does The Los Angeles Times.

This is an astonishing and disgraceful episode, which, if perpetrated against a conservative, would rightly lead to a massive outpouring of outrage directed at the university that had allowed such a purge to occur. I will be astonished if any reputable scholar agrees to take the job over Erwin’s broken contract, and many professors who would otherwise have welcomed the chance to join the UC system will be wondering about the Administration of such a place, even if they find someone to agree to be dean.

As someone who is going to be going back to school for my Graduate Degree next year, this troubles me. UCI was on the top of my list for both Business and Law (I had flipped back and forth regularly before deciding on Business…ethical reasons) mainly because of its proximity, but it’s also UC school, and since I have my undergrad from a CSU, why not mix it up?

The graduate schools I was looking at for Business were: UCI, Vanguard, USC, and CSULB. For law: UCI, Chapman.

I once sat in (with permission) on Hugh Hewitt’s constitutional law class, partially to see what it was all about, partially to pick his brain afterwards for direction, thoughts, etc. Hugh has always struck me as a fair man. This has extended to “The Smart Guys” segment where he features both John Eastman and Erwin Chemerinsky discussing current constitutional law issues from both sides of the aisle. I’m a regular listener to his radio show (usually the last hour since I’m a working stiff), and was shocked today to hear the news listed above.

Now, Erwin is a leader in Con Law thought from the liberal perspective, and although I disagree with him 95% of the time, he’s a brilliant man. I don’t think anyone can deny this. However, he seems to be targeted for “un-hiring” because of his politics. Now, were this a private institution, and donors were making all the decisions, by all means, drop him…but since this is a UC (University of California) campus, it’s subsidized by our tax dollars, and run with our tax dollars, there’s a big problem. The State is deciding what personal views are allowed.

Granted, I don’t want to have a curriculum that is made and dictated by a conglomerate of liberals, just as I don’t want to have a curriculum dictated by a horde of conservatives. The problem I have with liberal academia is the stifling of dissent, and the shutting out of conservatives FOR THEIR POLITICAL BELIEFS. This extends to the other side of the aisle for me. I want to win the war of ideas based on education, not exclusion…that’s a liberal tactic. In this case though, it seems that Erwin has been targeted and removed for his liberal politics by conservatives on the UC Board of Regents. Bad. This means that the state is dictating what a person can and cannot believe, and then hiring him accordingly. First and foremost, Erwin is a good and fair man. Wrong, but fair. Capable…but did I mention wrong? As wrong as he might be, he’s ridiculously qualified to start a fledgling law department at a struggling campus. Isn’t that what we want in our professors, someone who is willing to allow all sides of the argument to be heard? The state has no place firing a man because he doesn’t share their politics.

I’m writing UCI off of the list. In a school that’s notorious for being predominantly Asian, I figured they’d want to court a cracker like me. Oh well…the list is now three.

Update: Been a while because I’m lazy. Open trackback at WomanHonorThyself.

Trackposted to Rosemary’s Thoughts, Right Celebrity, Woman Honor Thyself, The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns, Shadowscope, The Pink Flamingo, The Amboy Times, and The Yankee Sailor, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Education, Grand Chaps