Picking
a
dean
can
come
down
to
a
games
of
politicking.
Firing
deans
can
too.
Over
the
last
few
years,
we’ve
seen
employers
nix
diversity-focused
positions
to
avoid
getting
sued
because
the
Supreme
Court
decided
that
the
Fourteenth
Amendment
hates
measures
that
help
minorities
enjoy
privileges
and
rights
long
denied
to
them,
actually.
Clifford
Dawkins
Jr.,
a
former
assistant
dean
at
Rutgers
Law,
was
fired
over
his
responses
to
diversity
matters.
He
recently
launched
a
suit
over
his
treatment
at
Rutgers
Law.
Reuters
has
coverage:
[Clifford
Dawkins
Jr.]
said
in
a
new
lawsuit
that
he
was
fired
after
he
questioned
how
funds
raised
for
diversity
efforts
were
spent
and
school
officials
accused
him
of
“watering
down”
a
minority
student
program
in
the
wake
of
the
U.S.
Supreme
Court’s
2023
decision
banning
the
consideration
of
race
in
admissions.
Firing
a
dean
for
questioning
where
the
money
goes?
Considering
that
fundraising
is
a
huge
part
of
their
job
description,
wouldn’t
it
make
sense
for
them
to
have
some
interest
in
making
sure
that
the
money
goes
toward
the
stated
ends?
Let’s
look
at
the
details:
Dawkins
said
his
relationship
with
Bond
began
to
sour
in
2023
when
he
objected
to
the
school
using
about
$20,000
raised
during
the
Minority
Student
Program’s
annual
gala
toward
an
overall
law
school
deficit.
At
face
value
that
sort
of
objection
makes
total
sense.
Granted,
2023
was
a
watershed
year
in
terms
of
diversity-related
managerial
decisions
for
obvious
reasons,
but
that
doesn’t
mean
you
should
be
able
to
just
redirect
funds
given
for
a
specific
reason
willy-nilly.
The
second
pain
points
also
seems
to
have
strong
roots
in
the
Court’s
SFFA
v.
Harvard
decision:
Dawkins
said
he
faced
further
hostility
after
he
sought
in
2025
to
include
white
and
affluent
students
in
the
Minority
Student
Program
in
an
effort
to
ensure
it
complied
with
the
Supreme
Court’s
2023
ruling.
Again,
appears
to
be
fair
game.
It
should
have
been
obvious
that
a
new
basis
for
diversity
—
race-based
or
otherwise
—
should
have
been
thoroughly
fleshed
out
in
light
of
mounting
pressure
to
de-divers
duifye
to
ahistoric
readings
of
the
Fourteenth
Amendment
being
preferred
to
the
truth
and
Trump
promising
to
get
rid
of
DEI
to
bring
back
merit-based
leadership
and
competent
decision
making.
No
clue
on
the
ETA
on
that;
it
seems
like
the
identity
preference
just
shifted
toward
demanding
fealty
to
Trump
if
they
want
summer
jobs.
Orange
really
is
the
new
Black,
I
guess.
Jokes
aside,
Dawkins’s
inclusion
of
White
and
affluent
students
seems
less
like
“watering
down”
the
the
program
(again,
few
things
could
douse
it
more
than
SFFA
v.
Harvard)
and
more
like
good
optics.
Just
look
at
the
basis
for
so
many
of
the
spite
suits
we’ve
seen
recently.
FASORP
suing
Northwestern
because
they
aren’t
White
enough
deserves
a
mention,
but
the
biggest
mover
in
this
space
might
be
Blum
&
Co.
suing
any
and
every
summer
program
that
was
focused
on
law
students
hailing
from
historically
underrepresented
groups
in
the
legal
industry.
Few
things
would
serve
as
terminal
defense
in
a
lawsuit
like
being
able
to
point
to
Old
Money
Steve™
to
show
that
the
minority
group’s
actions
are
in
line
with
SCOTUS
holdings.
Also,
can
we
be
honest
with
each
other?
Many
minority
groups
have
been
open
to
anyone
who
wants
to
join
for
a
while
now
—
here’s
an
article
on
Harvard’s
BLSA
opening
themselves
up
to
non-Black
members
over
30
years
ago.
It
looks
like
the
watering
down
accusation
assumes
some
level
of
“purity”
that
hasn’t
been
the
case
for
decades.
On
balance
there
are
worse
ways
to
engage
cautiously
with
SCOTUS
canning
diversity.
It
isn’t
like
he
said
the
students
couldn’t
use
the
word
Black
on
any
of
their
advertisements
or
anything.
The
complaint
alleges
additional
inequities
like
barring
him
from
speaking
at
faculty
meetings,
a
defamation
claim,
and
unnecessary
investigations
into
legal
work
he’s
done
outside
of
the
university.
He’s
suing
for
reinstatement,
back
pay,
and
punitives.
Whatever
the
outcome,
I
hope
that
it
benefits
the
students.
Ex-Minority
Student
Dean
Sues
Rutgers
Law
School
Over
Firing
[Reuters]
Chris
Williams
became
a
social
media
manager
and
assistant
editor
for
Above
the
Law
in
June
2021.
Prior
to
joining
the
staff,
he
moonlighted
as
a
minor
Memelord™
in
the
Facebook
group Law
School
Memes
for
Edgy
T14s
.
He
endured
Missouri
long
enough
to
graduate
from
Washington
University
in
St.
Louis
School
of
Law.
He
is
a
former
boat
builder
who
is
learning
to
swim
and
is
interested
in
rhetoric,
Spinozists
and
humor.
Getting
back
in
to
cycling
wouldn’t
hurt
either.
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at [email protected]
and
by
tweet
at @WritesForRent.