The Faculty Lounge

Legal Research and Writing Positions: The University of Akron

The University of Akron School of Law invites applications for two full-time faculty appointments to teach legal writing in its J.D. program, beginning in the fall of 2017 at the rank of Assistant Professor of Legal Writing.  The professors will each teach 10-12 credits per year of some combination of first-year legal writing courses and upper-level legal drafting courses.  Candidates hired as Assistant Professors of Legal Writing will serve on a probationary basis for their first two years, then be eligible for reappointment under a three-year term, followed by eligibility for reappointment under presumptively renewable five year terms. 

Candidates should have strong academic records (including a J.D. or its equivalent) and either experience in law practice or a judicial clerkship (or both).  They should be able to show a strong interest and competency in teaching legal research and writing.  Candidates should also show a record of or potential for successful scholarly publication.

The University of Akron School of Law is a public, mid-size law school of approximately 450 students located in the Akron/Cleveland metropolitan area.  Akron Law offers excellent teaching, relatively low tuition and a commitment to student success, as well as a strong relationship with the local and regional bars.  Akron Law prides itself on outcomes including our high bar passage rate, strong job placement, award-winning clinical programs, national championship trial team program and various areas of excellence.

Akron Law is committed to achieving a diverse faculty and staff by including individuals from varied backgrounds and characteristics, including age, gender, religion, ethnicity, disability, national origin, sexual orientation and socioeconomic background.  We are also committed to offering competitive salary and benefits packages to qualified candidates.

The University of Akron is the region's most influential public research university, contributing to the resurgence of the local economy, providing a highly skilled workforce, and known for an innovative approach to higher education.  With nearly 26,000 students and more than 300 associate, bachelor's, master's, doctorate, and law degree programs, UA offers career-focused and experiential learning.  From polymers to psychology, to engineering and integrated marketing communications, to education and choreography, UA brings together various disciplines in ways that provide students with life-long skills, internships and co-ops, opportunities for academic research, study abroad, on-campus student employment and service projects designed for diverse groups of learners, including full-time, part-time and on-line students, veterans, and adults returning to the classroom.

Required Qualifications: A Juris doctor or equivalent law degree, and either experience practicing law or a judicial clerkship (or both).

Preferred Qualifications:  A demonstrated record of or potential for successful scholarship and teaching. 

For complete details and to apply for these positions, visit: http://www.uakron.edu/jobs.  Job ID# 9651.  Applying for one position will automatically count as applying for the other, so there is no need to apply for both positions.  While all candidates are required to submit their applications via this centralized system, please feel free to direct any inquiries to Professor Bernadette Genetin, Chair of the search committee, at genetin@uakron.edu.  For assistance with your application or attachments please call 330-972-8431.  Review of applications will begin immediately.  Anticipated start date: August 15, 2017.

The University of Akron is an equal education and employment institution. It is the policy of this institution that there shall be no unlawful discrimination against any individual in employment or in its programs or activities at The University of Akron because of race, color, religion, sex, age, national or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, genetic information or status as a veteran.  The University is also committed to the principles of affirmative action and acts in accordance with state and federal laws.

Hiring Announcement: South Dakota (Clinic Director)

From an email message which I recently received:

Low Income Tax Clinic Director, Lecturer

The University of South Dakota School of Law invites applications for the position of Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC) Director. The position is non-tenure track and paid out of a federal grant beginning no later than January 2017. Continued employment is contingent on availability of grant funding.

The Director will lead the only LITC in South Dakota. Responsibilities will include representing low-income taxpayers before the IRS and the U.S. Tax Court, teaching and supervising clinical law students in the representation of clients, engaging in outreach to South Dakota communities, developing and coordinating a panel of pro bono attorneys, managing the LITC’s docket, and ensuring compliance with the requirements of an IRS-funded LITC.

We would be especially interested in candidates who have experience with an LITC or have some teaching experience. The grant period ends December 31, 2016, but is expected to be renewed for three years thereafter. The successful candidate must be a licensed attorney in a United States jurisdiction (a state or the District of Columbia) by the time of the appointment.

Applications for all university positions must be submitted through the Board of Regents electronic employment site: https://yourfuture.sdbor.edu/. Include on the website: application letter, vita, and names and addresses of three current references.  Inquiries may be directed to Ramon Ortiz, Director of Experiential Learning, School of Law, University of South Dakota, 414 E Clark Street, Vermillion, SD 57069; e-mail Ramon.Ortiz@usd.edu; telephone 605-677-3922. 

For application assistance or accommodation, call 605-677-5671.Diversity and inclusiveness are values that are embraced and practiced at the University of South Dakota.  Candidates who support these values are encouraged to apply.  EEO/AA.

Hiring Announcement: Memphis

From an email message which I recently received:

The University of Memphis, Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, anticipates hiring up to three full-time faculty members to teach in the Legal Methods program beginning Fall 2017. Legal Methods is a rigorous, required first-year legal research, writing, and analysis course. The Law School anticipates that each professor would teach Legal Methods I (fall) and Legal Methods II (spring) with approximately thirty-six students each semester. The legal writing professors and our Director of Legal Methods will work collaboratively to implement and coordinate the program, including identifying and designing aspects of the program that will be consistent across all sections, but the legal writing professors will have substantial autonomy in formulating course content. The position is not tenure-track. Candidates should have an outstanding academic record, demonstrated excellence in legal research and writing, and excellent communication skills. Candidates must have a J.D., bar admission, and at least two years’ practice experience. Candidates should have a strong desire to teach legal research and writing to first-year law students as well as a desire and ability to work collegially in a collaborative environment. Teaching experience is desired but not required. The positions are contingent on available funding. The Law School anticipates that the annual academic year base salary will be $60,000.  Tennessee does not have an income tax, and, in several different surveys, Memphis consistently ranks in the top ten for having one of the lowest costs of living in the United States.  Additionally, the positions will be benefits eligible. (See http://www.memphis.edu/benefits/info/retirement.php for more information.) The Law School encourages expressions of interest from candidates whose backgrounds will contribute to the diversity of the faculty. Please forward a letter of interest, a resume or C.V., and a list of three references by September 16, 2016, to Professor David S. Romantz, Chair, Faculty Recruitment Committee, at dromantz@memphis.edu. Please submit your materials in a single Word or .pdf document with the subject line “LM 2016 [your name].” The University of Memphis is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer.

Hiring Announcement: South Dakota

From an email message which I received earlier today:

Title: Director of Academic Support and Bar Preparation

Job Description: The University of South Dakota School of Law anticipates an opening for a Director of Academic Support and Bar Preparation. This is a new position at the law school, and will be a twelve-month appointment. The Director of Academic Support and Bar Preparation will hold the faculty title of Instructor, Lecturer, or Senior Lecturer, dependent on qualifications, and will report directly to the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs.  A successful candidate will be expected to: (1) develop and implement academic support programming for first and second year students, particularly at-risk students; (2) develop and implement bar exam preparation programming for third year students; (3) work in collaboration with faculty and staff; (4) collect and evaluate data related to academic success and bar passage rates; (5) draft reports, as necessary, regarding analyses of student performance; (6) counsel students regarding academic performance; (7) advise and assist students in the bar application process; (8) provide assistance for repeat bar-examinees; and (9) perform other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications: The successful candidate must have a JD and be admitted to a Bar in a US jurisdiction. He or she must also have excellent written and oral communication skills, as well as the ability to collect and analyze large pools of data. The successful candidate should also have strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work in a collaborative environment.

Preferred Qualifications: (1) The ideal candidate would have at least one year of teaching experience acquired in an academic support program at an ABA-accredited school. This is a highly-preferred qualification. (2) Prior experience in educational analytics or a BS or MS in education is preferred. (3) One year of experience in the private or governmental practice of law is preferred.

Diversity and inclusiveness are values that are embraced and practiced at the University of South Dakota.  Candidates who support these values are encouraged to apply.  EEO/AA

Applications must be submitted through the Board of Regents electronic employment site: https://yourfuture.sdbor.edu/. Include on the website: application letter, vita, and names and addresses of three current references.  Inquiries about the position or the use of the website may be directed to: Tiffany C. Graham, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, University of South Dakota School of Law, 414 East Clark Street, Vermillion, SD 57069; email Tiffany.Graham@usd.edu; or telephone 605-677-5393.

State & Local Government Law Works-in-Progress Conference: CFP

The University of Houston Law Center will be hosting the 5th Annual State & Local Government Law Works-in-Progress Conference on Friday, October 7, 2016 and Saturday, October 8, 2016.  Scholars and practitioners writing in areas related to state and local government law are invited to attend and/or present works in progress. Participants can register and obtain hotel information here.

Please register for the conference by September 9, 2016.  Participants will have the option of either presenting a full draft or an early work-in-progress/abstract.  Drafts/abstracts will be due September 26, 2015.  Questions should be directed to Kellen Zale at kbzale@central.uh.edu.

Slavery's Capitalism

I'm delighted to report that Slavery's Capitalism is about to ship from the University of Pennsylvania Press' warehouse.  (Here's a flier with a code for 20% off.)  I wrote about the book at the beginning of the summer when Roots was on television and I was thinking about how much economics and law were at the center of the system of slavery. Let me crib from that post now:  

If you're been watching Roots, then you've seen a lot about slavery and the market economy the last two nights.  The University of Pennsylvania Press is publishing an important volume edited by Sven Beckert and Seth Rockman that deals with recent work on slavery and capitalism.  It's called Slavery's Captialism: A New History of American Economic Development.   Close readers of the faculty lounge may recall that I blogged about the conference with the same title, "Slavery's Capitalism," where a bunch of these papers originated.  This is a vibrant area of discussion among historians -- and legal historians.  For the market (as I refer to it rather than capitalism) had a lot to do with the growth of slavery.  (The market also had a lot to do with its decline; one of my favorite quotes along these lines comes from Emerson who said of trade that it pushed down feudalism and would do the same to slavery -- but that is also came along with a lot of hardship.)  You may have seen Jenny Schuessler's piece on historians' new takes on capitalism in the New York Times, which deals in part with the discussion of slavery.  And here's an accessible essay Sven and Seth published on this over at Bloomberg.

It's astonishing to me how long many historians clung to the idea that the south was in some ways anti-market.  I think a lot of it has to do with the over-hang of ideas that plantations were like families -- an absurd idea, to be sure, but one that was popular for decades in the "moonlight and magnolia" school.  But there was another reason -- rooted in antislavery , too.  The only type of criticism allowed of slavery in the south for much of the ante-bellum period was that slavery was bad for white people.  And so slavery was depicted by antislavery advocates as economically disastrous for the southern economy.  That interpretation fit well -- perversely -- with the proslavery interpretation that slavery was about a loving relationship between the owners and their enslaved human property.  Both sides had an incentive to talk about how bad slavery was for the southern economy.  And I think that interpretation has proven very sticky.  While there have been some powerful interpretations of slavery as economically beneficial for the slave-owning class over the years, it's only been in the recent past that we've been fully embracing just how much slavery contributed to the economy.  And this book looks at many places to see how the system worked to extract labor at the lowest cost and how much the rest of our country benefited from this.  I think is coming along at just the right moment, when people are talking a lot about the legacy of slavery.

I'm honored to have a chapter in Slavery's Capitalism; my chapter deals with the southern legal system's market-orientation.  I discuss some cases involving slaves, running from the limitation of tort liability of slave-owners for torts committed by their slaves to the use of trusts to manage enslaved people effectively, as well as the ideas of judges who linked slavery, economic development, and law. A lot of this will sound familiar to legal historians.  It's in large part an expansion of themes in Morton Horwitz' Transformation of American Law to the context of the slave-owning south.  Those themes, which appear in judicial opinions and in speeches and books by judges and lawyers, reveal the centrality of slavery to southern law and vice versa.  (And I also build out that theme and others in University, Court, and Slave, which is also out this month -- and available at a steep discount off of list if you get it directly from OUP with this code.)

The table of contents is as follows:

New SHARIAsource Blog

Readers of this blog may be interested to know that the SHARIAsource initiative of the  Islamic Legal Studies Program at Harvard Law School has started a new blog dedicated to (relatively) brief commentary on contemporary issues concerning Islamic law and Muslims alike.  Recent posts by contributors have included commentary on the European Court of Justice's recent Muslim headscarves decisions, U.S. states' efforts to 'ban' shari'a, and my own commentary on the Orlando shootings.

While it has yet to officially launch--soon!--the SHARIAsource initiative aims to provide wide Internet access to often hard-to-obtain primary Islamic law sources (e.g. cases decided by both state and non-state legal actors), informed explanation and commentary on these legal sources, and also online round-tables and forums concerning both contemporary and historical issues in Islamic law.  As a Regional Editor for South Asia, I've had access to an unofficial version of the website for a while now, and I can honestly say that this initiative is truly impressive--from both a content and technological perspective--and will be very useful to a wide range of academics, students, journalists, and policymakers.  The official launch will be later this year, inshallah! 

How Oberlin College Mishandled the Karega Matter

Oberlin College has gone from fecklessness to overreaction in response to Professor Joy Karega’s anti-Jewish Facebook posts, thus turning a sorry situation into an outright crisis. What should have been an invitation for anti-Zionists to repudiate the anti-Semitism in their midst, has instead been diverted into an unnecessary feud over academic freedom.  Nobody has ended up looking good, including Karega’s strongest critics and her adamant apologists, and least of all the college itself.

To recap the mess at Oberlin: Joy Karega is an assistant professor of rhetoric and composition at Oberlin College, who became infamous last February when it was discovered that she traffics in blatantly anti-Jewish conspiracy theories.  Her Facebook page has featured claims that ISIS is a “Mossad Operation,” that Israel shot down Malaysia Airlines flight 17 over Ukraine, and that the Jewish state was behind both the 9/11 attack on New York City and the Charlie Hebdo murders in Paris. (“This ain’t even hard,” she wrote, “They unleashed Mossad on France and it’s clear why.”)  Another post, illustrated with a sinister caricature, proclaimed that the Rothschild family owns “your news, the media, your oil, and your government.” There is more, but that’s the general idea, as reported in more detail here and here.

Oberlin president Marvin Krislov was no doubt taken by surprise when Karega’s Facebook posts surfaced.  There had been a series of complaints about an anti-Jewish atmosphere on campus – much of it, although not all, related to Israel – but Karega’s ravings were of a completely different nature.  Krislov could therefore be forgiven for not anticipating that an Oberlin professor would indulge the sort of anti-Semitic bigotry that would be more at home on a white supremacist website such as Stormfront.  His initial reaction, however, only made things worse.

The first response from Oberlin was an unsigned statement from the Communications Department, that said virtually nothing about the content of Karega’s posts.  Here it is in full:

Oberlin College respects the rights of its faculty, students, staff, and alumni to express their personal views. Acknowledgement of this right does not signal institutional support for, or endorsement of, any specific position. The statements posted on social media by Dr. Joy Karega, assistant professor of rhetoric and composition, are hers alone and do not represent the views of Oberlin College.

Jewish students, alumni, and parents were rightfully appalled by what appeared to be a brush-off.  It seemed as though Oberlin found nothing especially noteworthy about anti-Jewish racism, or at least nothing sufficiently objectionable to mention, while Krislov said nothing at all.  Nobody had ever thought that Karega’s statements might actually “represent the views of Oberlin College,” so distancing the school was pretty much the equivalent of stating the obvious, while ignoring the underlying problem of Karega’s bigotry.

An appropriately strong statement from Krislov might have dampened the outrage, while perhaps heading off the predictable calls for Karega’s dismissal from the faculty.  Instead, the anodyne announcement only intensified the criticism and demands for disciplinary action.

More after the jump.

Tulsa Law Review Book Review Issue

The Tulsa Law Review's annual book review issue is out -- and I'm astonished with the number of books reviewed and how many distinguished and thoughtful reviewers Ken Kersch and Linda McClain recruited.  This is really exciting.   I may be a little behind the times on this, I can't rightly tell -- but I just saw Jack Beermann's review of Kenneth Aslakson's book on  suits by free people of color in New Orleans in the early 19th century on CLIP, so I'm guessing this is just recently out.  Legal historians will also want to read Kunal Parker's review of Kevin M. Kruse's One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America, Adam Laats, The Other School Reformers: Conservative Activism in American Education, and Reuel Schiller's Forging Rivals: Race, Class, Law, and the Collapse of Postwar Liberalism, and Martha Ertman's review of Kara Swanson's Banking on the Body.  A lot of the other books relate in greater or lesser degrees to legal history -- check the whole issue out here.  As I say, it's a terrific list of books and of reviewers.

Hiring Announcement: California Western School of Law

From our friends at California Western School of Law ...

California Western School of Law seeks 2-3 tenure-track faculty members 

Do you value diversity? At California Western School of Law, we pride ourselves on the diversity of our student body.  This year, around 50% of our incoming students are from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds.  We are committed to having a faculty that reflects our student body and our community.  

Do you want to influence legal education at an established but innovative law school?  California Western recently celebrated its 90th anniversary - but we have never been stale or ordinary.  We were on the forefront of innovative, experiential education three decades ago.  As a result, our graduates have a reputation for being uniquely practice-ready.  California Western continues to rethink the status quo in legal education – balancing a rigorous practical education with cutting edge scholarship and community service.  

Who are you?  We are seeking candidates with an entrepreneurial spirit who are eager to put their own stamp on a law school with an expanding faculty and many growth opportunities.

What do you want to teach?  We can prioritize your teaching preferences regardless of subject matter. 

Where do you want to live?  California Western is in downtown San Diego, California, literally overlooking the Pacific Ocean.  A city of breathtaking beauty, we have perfect weather, miles of beaches, and nearby mountains.  We are a family-friendly, diverse city with small city traffic and walkable neighborhoods. 

If you are excited about teaching a diverse student body, shaping the next iteration of an innovative and successful law school, and living in “America’s Finest City,” we want to hear from you.

Candidates should email their materials by September 30, 2016 to Professor Ken Klein at kklein@cwsl.edu.  Candidates are encouraged to submit a statement to our Appointments Committee addressing how they can contribute to the goal of creating a diverse faculty. 

 

CFP: "Intersectional Inquiries and Collaborative Action: Gender and Race," Univ. of Notre Dame, March 2-4, 2017

This from colleagues at Notre Dame:

Intersectional Inquiries and Collaborative Action: Gender and Race

University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, Indiana USA
March 2-4, 2017

Deadline for submissions: Saturday, October 1, 2016

Questions of race and gender continue to undergird broad sections of inquiry in the academy and beyond. The ongoing legacies and current manifestations of racism and sexism continue to demand intellectual analysis, institutional recognition, and collective intervention. Reaching a critical crescendo during the political upheavals of the 1960s’ civil rights/anti-colonial era and the responding cultural turn in the humanities, Black feminists have discussed the ways in which both race and gender are co-constitutive and rely on intersecting paradigms of power and constructions of difference. Indeed, the concept of “intersectionality,” coined by Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, has become a key mode of framing how identities and sites of contestation around identity are multiple and complex. Furthermore, critics and activists from a myriad of socio-political milieus have underscored the importance of intersectional approaches in struggles for social justice and in the making of inclusive public spaces. From feminist scholarship to human rights policy to commentary via Twitter memes, intersectionality as a theoretical concept, method of analysis, and mode of collaborative action circulates in both grassroots and intellectual discourse.The Intersectional Inquiries conference will offer a platform for scholars from various fields to interrogate the intersections of race and gender--as manifested materially and discursively--from a broad range of historical, global, and contemporary contexts. We call on scholars, activists, and students to attend rigorously to the ways that race structures gender, sexualities, class, and dis/ability and the dominating matrices of biopolitical violence and imperialism, as well as to trace how racialized subjectivities and non-normative embodiments challenge and radically fracture hierarchy. With this conference, our hope is to inspire impactful intellectual dialogue and assist in building ties that might lead to scholarly- and social justice-focused collaborations.

Our confirmed keynote speaker is Professor Patricia Hill Collins, Distinguished University Professor of Sociology at the University of Maryland, College Park.  Professor Collins recently co-authored Intersectionality (Polity 2016) with Sirma Bilge.  Her first book, Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment (Routledge 1990), won the Jessie Bernard Award of the American Sociological Association for significant scholarship in gender, and the C. Wright Mills Award of the Society for the Study of Social Problems.  Professor Collins is also the author and editor of several books dealing with race, gender, education, and politics, including On Intellectual Activism (Temple 2012); Another Kind of Public Education: Race, the Media, Schools, and Democratic Possibilities (Beacon 2009); and From Black Power to Hip Hop: Racism, Nationalism, and Feminism (Temple 2006).  

Topics

The Organizing Committee invites proposals for individual papers, pre-constituted panels, pre-constituted roundtables, and creative works that address one or more of the following topics, or other topics aligned with the conference theme:

immigration
globalism
coloniality and imperialism
violence, terror, and war
social movements and activism
electoral politics
neoliberalism
sexualities
disability
religion and spirituality
education
environment, climate change, and sustainability
space, place, and geography
labor and economics
family and marriage
literature, visual culture, and performance
popular culture (social media, film, television, music, sports, gaming, etc.)
digitization and technicity
theory and/or methodology
feminist jurisprudence.
Submission Guidelines

The deadline for submissions is 11:59 PM (US Eastern Daylight Time) on Saturday, October 1, 2016.

Please submit your proposal here:  NDIntersectional.submittable.com/submissions   You will first need to become a member of Submittable (which is easy and free).

To allow for as many voices as possible at the conference, proposers may apply for only two of the following roles: paper presenter, creative works presenter, panel chair, roundtable coordinator, or roundtable participant.  

We welcome submissions from scholars, activists, artists, and students, including those at the undergraduate level.

Open Call Papers

Individuals submitting paper proposals should provide an abstract of 250 words, a short bio, and contact information. Co-authored papers are acceptable.

Pre-constituted Panels

Panel chairs should submit a 250-word rationale for the pre-constituted panel as a whole.  For each participant, chairs should submit a 250-word presentation abstract, a short bio, and contact information. Panels should include 3-4 papers. Co-authored papers are acceptable.  Panels that include a diversity of panelist affiliations and experience levels are strongly encouraged.

Pre-constituted Roundtables

Roundtable coordinators should submit a 250-word rationale for the pre-constituted roundtable as a whole.  For each participant, coordinators should submit a 250-word abstract of planned comments, a short bio, and contact information. Roundtables should include no more than 6 participants (inclusive of coordinator).  Roundtables that include a diversity of panelist affiliations and experience levels are strongly encouraged. Roundtable participants’ remarks at the conference should be brief in order to create substantive discussion with attendees.

Open Call Creative Works

Proposals for audiovisual and other creative works should consist of a 250-word abstract (including the length and format of the work), a short bio of the producer/director, contact information, and requirements for exhibition. Co-authored work is acceptable.  If the work is viewable online, please submit a URL.


More Information

Please direct any questions about the conference and the submission process to: NDIntersectional@gmail.com.

Updates about the conference schedule, events, travel and lodging, and more will be posted here.

Conference Organizers: Tara Hudson, Z'étoile Imma, Mary Celeste Kearney, and Christine Venter, University of Notre Dame.

University of Richmond Faculty Openings

The University of Richmond School of Law seeks to fill two entry-level tenure-track positions for the 2017-2018 academic year.  Primary areas of interest include tax and corporate transactional law.  We are also open to candidates in other areas, including critical race theory, regulatory and administrative law, property law, and civil procedure. Candidates should have outstanding academic credentials and show superb promise for top-notch scholarship and teaching.  The University of Richmond, an equal opportunity employer, is committed to developing a diverse workforce and student body and to supporting an inclusive campus community.  Applications from candidates who will contribute to these goals are strongly encouraged. 

Inquiries and requests for additional information may be directed to Professor Jessica Erickson, Chair of Faculty Appointments, at lawfacultyapp@richmond.edu. 

The Mess at Oberlin

Oberlin College just announced that Professor Joy Karega will be suspended with pay for the coming semester, pending the result of a “faculty governance” review of her “professional fitness” that was initiated at the instance of the board of trustees.  Karega, it will be remembered, became notorious last February when it was discovered that she had posted several undeniably anti-Semitic comments on her Facebook page.  Among other things, she claimed that ISIS was a “CIA and Mossad operation,” and that Israel had been responsible for shooting down Malaysia Airlines flight 17, as well as the Charlie Hebdo murders.  And lest there be any doubt that her conspiracy theories were motivated by long-standing anti-Jewish memes, she included a leering image of Jacob Rothschild, with accompanying text (capital letters original) that could have been lifted straight from the Protocols of the Elders of Zion or Stormfront:

MY NAME IS JACOB ROTHSCHILD

MY FAMILY IS WORTH 500 TRILLION DOLLARS

WE OWN NEARLY EVERY CENTRAL BANK IN THE WORLD

WE FINANCED BOTH SIDES OF EVERY WAR SINCE NAPOLEON

WE OWN YOUR NEWS, THE MEDIA, YOUR OIL, AND YOUR GOVERNMENT

Oberlin’s president Marvin Krislov initially responded by invoking Karega’s academic freedom, while later adding that as “a practicing Jew” he was deeply hurt by Karega’s statements.  It was several weeks later that the trustees instructed Krislov to begin a process that could “challenge the assertion that there is any justification for these repugnant postings and report back to the college.”

Since then, a majority of Oberlin’s faculty signed a statement condemning Karega’s anti-Jewish posts, and saying that her statements had sullied “the values of equality and mutual support that are embedded in our institutional DNA.”

Karega also has her defenders on the Oberlin faculty, some of whom stated that she was being scapegoated “for what we have been led to believe is a more general concern about anti-Semitism at Oberlin.” 

In many ways, I found the defense of Karega to be more troubling than her posts.  Not that I would dismiss her hostile anti-Semitism, but it is of the looney variety that most college students would not take too seriously.  On the other hand, several of her otherwise thoughtful colleagues – evidently her friends – have utterly failed to understand the poisonous nature of anti-Jewish bigotry.  Here is an example from the Facebook page of one Oberlin professor, who thinks that his students should give serious consideration to Karega's anti-Jewish slanders, apparently because they might be “proved revolutionary.”

As a teacher, I always caution my students from too quickly dismissing any perspective as “unthinkable” or “unspeakable” – no matter how harmful, because we do not have the ability to determine the convictions of others that we will encounter in this life. . . .  Some ideas are big, some are small. Some ideas are progressive, others are regressive. . . .  Some ideas I thought were revolutionary, I later found ridiculous.  And some I thought ridiculous, later proved revolutionary.

Karega’s lawyer accused Oberlin’s administration of “pandering to the dictates of a handful of vocal and wealthy religious zealots,” perhaps on the theory that only zealots of a certain sort would object to allegations that Jews control banks, governments, and the media.  (And of course, they are all “wealthy.”)

Yet for all of that, I think that suspending Karega is wrong, or at least ill-advised, for these reasons: 

First, Oberlin should allow the faculty governance process to reach a conclusion before taking action.  Interim suspension is a drastic measure, usually undertaken only when the professor presents an imminent danger to the community.  Karega’s Facebook posts are several years old, and it seems that she taught without incident since they were posted.  Thus, it is hard to conclude that she presents any immediate threat by teaching next semester.

Second, I am wary of disciplining any professor for extra-academic writing or social media posts, no matter how obnoxious, so long as they are not reflected in her teaching or interactions with students.  I work at a university where Arthur Butz – one of the nation’s premier Holocaust deniers – has been teaching electrical engineering for decades.  As far as anyone can tell, he respects the line between his deeply offensive prejudices, which he does not express on campus, and his teaching assignments. Perhaps Karega could do the same (although perhaps not).

In Karega’s case, however, this is a closer question.  Although an anti-Semite can teach electrical engineering without incident, Karega is a professor of “social justice writing.”  Thus, her bigoted and stereotyped views relate directly to her academic field.  Just as a geocentrist could not teach astronomy, it is questionable whether an anti-Jewish bigot and conspiracy theorist can capably teach about social justice. 

Ultimately, however, my conclusion is that academic discipline should be reserved for academic misconduct.  Suspending or firing Karega will be read by some as persecution, thus making it even harder to convince her friends and supporters that anti-Semitism is indeed “unspeakable” and not “revolutionary.”

[NOTE: This post has been slightly edited for clarity.]

Harry Ballan Named Dean Of Touro Law

Retired Davis, Polk partner Harry Ballan has been named the new dean of Touro College Law.  Ballan holds a JD from Columbia and a Ph.D in history and theory of music from Yale.  He follows Patricia Salkin, who is now provost at Touro.  

New Dean at Concordia U School of Law

Concordia University School of Law in Boise, Idaho has a new Dean: Elena Langan, formerly of Nova Southeastern University’s Shepard Broad College of Law in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, will become Dean on January 1, 2017.  The school's announcement is here.

Olympic Wrestling

The Summer Olympics open on Friday, and my favorite sport -- freestyle wrestling -- is set to begin on Sunday, August 14.  This was almost the final Olympic appearance for wrestling, as the IOC had once voted to eliminate the sport beginning with the 2020 games.  Wrestling was reinstated thanks to a last-minute lobbying effort, but the proposal is likely to come up again, as future Olympic host cities face continuing pressure to limit the size and expense of the summer games.

My friend and colleague Dan Gandert, who writes frequently about sports law, has come up with an elegant solution:  move wrestling to the Winter Olympics.  He explains his proposal after the jump:

Tuscaloosa Photos

 

Robert E. Lee Monument, New Orleans

Massey Symposium, University of New Hampshire, September 24

I'm delighted to report that the University of New Hampshire and U.C. Hastings are hosting a symposium honoring our beloved colleague and mentor, Calvin Massey.  The symposium will be September 24, at UNH and will have a number of Calvin's colleagues and friends from around the country.   Cribbing now from the school's announcement:

Please join the University of New Hampshire School of Law and UC Hastings College of Law in commemorating the life and work of Professor Calvin Massey on September 24, 2016, at UNH Law in Concord, NH. Calvin was a gifted writer, influential scholar, and generous mentor who left an indelible impact on countless students and peers. Calvin’s friends, colleagues, and academic collaborators will share responses to his monumental scholarly and personal contributions in the areas in which he wrote and taught. We plan to spend the morning in the classroom, in tribute to Calvin’s passion for teaching and learning, and the afternoon outside, in tribute to his love of the outdoors.

The full list of speakers with details about registration is at the UNH's website.  I'm very much looking forward to this and to remembering Calvin's contributions as a scholar, a mentor, a husband and father, and an all-around great person.

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