UCI screws up again

A year or so ago, I had a conversation with the person to whom I report for Yale admissions, a prominent Orange County lawyer. He said, "If UCI can't take care of its own messes, it doesn't deserve a law school." He was referring to the persistent series of UCI scandals, which the current Chancellor, Michael Drake, had swept under the rug dealt with in his tenure. Drake couldn't really handle the scandals, and he's created a new one. Days after offering the decanate of the long-awaited law school to Erwin Chemerinsky, Drake has rescinded the appointment, stating that Chemerinsky was "too liberal." Apparently, Drake has been living in fear of the UC Regents making life difficult for him -- a position he would not be in if his credibility were not weakened by the scandals. Rather than shepherding Chemerinsky through the confirmation process, Drake has dropped him -- an admission of Drake's inability to get the job done.

If you have a potentially controversial candidate -- and Chemerinsky is not controversial -- you float a trial balloon, and gauge the strength of the opposition before deciding to proceed. You do not have a man sign a contract for employment and then "rescind" the contract. That's the sign of a spineless schmuck.

I wish to God I were a major donor to UCI, because then I would have the pleasure of cutting the university off at the knees. UCI, truly, does not deserve a law school.