Statement from Dean Erwin Chemerinsky
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
I write this with profound sadness. Since I became a dean, my wife and I have invited the first-year students to our home for dinner. We were asked this year by the presidents of the third year class to have the graduating students over for dinner because they began in Fall 2021 when COVID prevented us from having dinners for them. We were delighted to oblige and designated three nights – April 9, 10, 11 – that graduating students could choose among. I never imagined that something that we do to help our community would become ugly and divisive.
Last week, there was an awful poster, on social media and bulletin boards in the law school building, of a caricature of me holding a bloody knife and fork, with the words in large letters, “No dinner with Zionist Chem while Gaza starves.” I never thought I would see such blatant antisemitism, with an image that invokes the horrible antisemitic trope of blood libel and that attacks me for no apparent reason other than I am Jewish. Although many complained to me about the posters and how it deeply offended them, I felt that though deeply offensive, they were speech protected by the First Amendment. But I was upset that those in our community had to see this disturbing, antisemitic poster around the law school.
The students responsible for this had the leaders of our student government tell me that if we did not cancel the dinners, they would protest at them. I was sad to hear this, but made clear that we would not be intimidated and that the dinners would go forward for those who wanted to attend. I said that I assumed that any protest would not be disruptive.
On April 9, about 60 students came to our home for the dinner. All had registered in advance. All came into our backyard and were seated at tables for dinner. While guests were eating, a woman stood up with a microphone, stood on the top step in the yard, and began a speech, including about the plight of the Palestinians. My wife and I immediately approached her and asked her to stop and leave. The woman continued. When she continued, there was an attempt to take away her microphone. Repeatedly, we said to her that you are a guest in our home, please stop and leave. About 10 students were clearly with her and ultimately left as a group.
The dinner, which was meant to celebrate graduating students, was obviously disrupted and disturbed. I am enormously sad that we have students who are so rude as to come into my home, in my backyard, and use this social occasion for their political agenda.
The dinners will go forward on Wednesday and Thursday. I hope that there will be no disruptions; my home is not a forum for free speech. But we will have security present. Any student who disrupts will be reported to student conduct and a violation of the student conduct code is reported to the Bar.
I have spent my career staunchly defending freedom of speech. I have spent my years as dean trying hard to create a warm, inclusive community. I am deeply saddened by these events and take solace that it is just a small number of our students who would behave in such a clearly inappropriate manner.
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Here's the video of his wife "assaulting" the protester, on Ramadan!, no less.
Erwin Chemerinsky is the guy who does everything correctly. Virulently anti-Trump, progressive bona fides to the gills. His work is often featured here on this site to justify whatever batshit crazy legal argument of the day the left has seized on. He's such an ally he got caught on tape admitting to discriminating on the basis of race when hiring for the University.
All for naught.
But wokeness comes for everybody in the end. One mistake, one dissent from the party line and he's a "white supremacist with a degree" oppressing minorities. The constant eating of their own is something to see. At what point are the useful idiots going to wake up and say "if they could come for Chemerinsky, they could come for me"
Yes, his only mistake? Being Jewish.
Shame, shame on him ……
It's amazing to watch these dynamics play out. He's a progressive's progressive who had no problem discriminating against white people in the name of equity, but his religion and refusal to call for the destruction of Israel means he's a white supremacist. The same as John Calhoun.
Yeah, right? Unlike my friends on the left I don’t really wish this sort of thing on anyone but this has a real karmic feel to it.
They were amazingly patient, 2 requests then you are helped out.