Pepperdine alumni are demanding that the university differentiate itself from the dean’s position on the law banning same-sex marriage.
By Olivia Damavandi / Staff Writer
More than one hundred Pepperdine University School of Law alumni say their educations have been devalued by former White House prosecutor Kenneth Starr’s simultaneous positions as dean of the university’s School of Law and as lead attorney for Proposition 8, the November ballot measure voters passed banning same-sex marriage that is being challenged in court. The alumni have called for the university to issue a written statement distancing itself from Starr’s affiliation with the measure.
Their dismay has brought to light the controversy of whether universities should take action regarding their educators’ public involvement in high-profile cases.
Erwin Chemerinsky, founding dean of the Donald Bren School of Law at UC Irvine, is familiar with such controversies. In 2007, soon after he signed the contract that made him the founding dean of the Donald Bren School of Law, the hire was rescinded by UCI Chancellor Michael V. Drake, who felt Chemerinsky’s liberal commentaries were “polarizing” and would not serve the interests of the university. The action was criticized by both liberal and conservative scholars who felt it hindered the academic mission of the law school, but it was decided that Chemerinsky would head the school of law on the principle of academic freedom.
“Although I disagree with Dean Starr’s position in the Prop 8 case, I admire and respect him for his involvement,” Chemerinksy said in an e-mail interview last week. “One role of the dean is providing a model for faculty and students. Dean Starr is doing just this by being a superb advocate.”
Jerry Derloshon, Pepperdine University director of public relations and news, agrees that Starr’s campaign for Prop 8 is advantageous.
“I would characterize it [Starr’s involvement] as a plus,” he said in a telephone interview last week.
“Pepperdine welcomes that it has this leading constitutional scholar,” Derloshon said. “Under his tenure, the rankings of the law school have gone up. His prominence as a legal scholar and highly active, professional engagement in the community is really a model of how the law school should conduct its business.”
Pepperdine School of Law alumni have expressed their written opinions and signed a letter that was sent to Starr last week in a public group on Facebook.com entitled “Pepperdine Law Alums in Support of Repealing Prop 8.” The alumni acknowledge Starr’s right to free speech, but say the university did not made any effort to publicly separate itself from Starr’s defense of Proposition 8 prior to a hearing before the California Supreme Court two weeks ago in San Francisco.
“While we support any individual’s right to free speech, your views and actions are a de facto representation and reflection of Pepperdine University School of Law, as you are its figurehead,” the alumni’s letter, addressed to Starr, reads. “We strongly urge the School of Law to make a public statement underscoring its desire for diversity, which includes lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students.”
Jeremy Black, a 2004 graduate of the university’s School of Law and cofounder of the Facebook.com group, said in an interview last week that Pepperdine’s non-issuance of a public statement differentiating it from Starr’s position “leads one to the conclusion that they are on the same page.”
Starr testified in the California Supreme Court in support of Proposition 8 in a three-hour, televised hearing on March 5 in response to three lawsuits filed shortly after the measure passed. The lawsuits claim the measure cannot be enacted as an initiative amendment, but only by either a constitutional “revision,” which requires a two-thirds vote of the Legislature, or by a statewide Constitutional Convention (the last of which, in California, took place in 1879). The official proponents of Proposition 8 also seek to nullify an estimated 18,000 same-sex marriages that occurred prior to the ban.
The Supreme Court appeared to suggest in the hearing that Proposition 8 would most likely be upheld, but that the estimated 18,000 same-sex marriages would most likely remain legal. A verdict from the justices is expected by early June.
“When I talk to other people in the legal profession and they ask where I went to law school, I am embarrassed to say ‘Pepperdine’,” Vicki Karan, 2004 School of Law alumnus and cofounder of “Pepperdine Law Alums in Support of Repealing Prop 8,” said in an interview last week.
“They automatically associate Pepperdine with Ken Starr [being pro Prop 8],” Karan said. “I have a $200,000 degree I pay for every month. I feel like the value of my investment has been lowered and the school’s not doing anything about it.”
“People know that I went to Pepperdine and know Starr is dean of the School of Law because it’s all over the news,” Black said. “I definitely have gotten a few jabs but I just say I wasn’t there when he was there. It’s sad that I have to defend my law school education whenever it comes up.”
Derloshon last week said that the school has been “very public with the fact that Dean Starr, in his capacity as a practicing attorney, represented this case as an individual. He is not the Pepperdine spokesperson nor is he acting on behalf of the university at all.”
Derloshon said e-mails establishing Pepperdine’s neutrality on Proposition 8 were sent to Pepperdine alumni who resided within the state of California last fall, when an uproar took place in response to Richard M. Peterson’s, assistant professor of law and director of the Special Education Clinic at Pepperdine University, appearance in televised advertisements in support of the measure. The name of the university initially appeared in the advertisements, was then later removed at the request of Pepperdine officials, and was finally reinserted and followed by the statement, “For identification purposes only.”
“There are far more alumni who haven’t said one word about any of this than there are about alumni who have,” Derloshon said, estimating the total number of Pepperdine graduates at 80,000.
“While there are alumni who are very troubled by the fact that he is representing in this case, I would know that there are people who feel that Dean Starr’s [position] is consistent with their values,” Derloshon continued. “All we can do is honor and respect diversity of opinion.”