'Chancellor Drake:

We find deeply disturbing [Drop deeply.] the many [Drop many.] reports now circulating regarding the hiring and "firing" [Dump the quotation marks. He was fired. Say fired.] of Erwin Chemerinsky as the founding Dean of the UC Irvine Law School because he is too "politically controversial," and not least regarding [Two is too many regardings, especially since this comes from lawyer-types. You don't want this to sound like a brief.] your role in this unfortunate debacle [Okay, kids. Why is unfortunate debacle a prose debacle? Datz right. Because debacle is a very very extreme word designating a really really bad thing. Unfortunate - recall its amusing ironic use in those children's books about the unfortunate Baudelaire family - is a very moderate word. No debacle is ever unfortunate. Debacles are horrible, hideous, tragic...] We are disturbed because of the deep violation [Drop deep. Note how the very upset letter writer thinks to convey her upset by shoving intensifying adjectives everywhere. Don't do this. It has the opposite effect. It dilutes.] both of the integrity of the university and of the intrusion of outrageously one-sided politics and unacceptable [By now you get the idea. Outrageously and unacceptable have to go. You want to keep your temper, and you want your prose to be strong and direct.] ideological considerations into a hiring process that should be driven by academic excellence, administrative expertise, leadership capacity, and personal integrity. By your own admission, Professor Chemerinsky exhibits all of these qualities in very considerable measure, which is why you sought to hire him in the first instance. Thus to withdraw the offer even after it has been formally accepted confirms that it is for reasons that should play no role whatsoever in the process, as even self-professed conservative deans of law schools have been quick to point out.

We are deeply concerned [Drop deeply. Note that it is our third use of the word in two paragraphs.] because this action places UC Irvine once more in the spotlight for the most negative and debilitating of reasons. One commentator has ridiculed your action as rank amateurism, and we cannot help but agree. It makes attracting to UC Irvine administrators, faculty, and students of the highest quality so much more difficult, and will all but torpedo the appointment of a Dean of the new Law School of Chemerinsky's quality.

But perhaps above all we are deeply [Yikes.] concerned that, if the reports are true, as our institutional and intellectual leader, and as our representative, you have failed to defend the integrity of the university, its recruitment process, and the sanctity of academic freedom you have given voice to supporting in the past. We have no idea what pressure you came under from those promising to support the university financially or politically, but we have heard nothing of your public undertaking to stand up for the intellectual independence of the university, its hiring processes which weren't allowed as a consequence to run their course, of academic integrity and of the principle of reasonable independence. It is this that disturbs us most deeply. [Deeply... See how, at this point, winding up on this sentence tends to have little impact?]

We urge you in the strongest terms to reconsider your position, and to reverse your decision thus to reinstate the process for Professor Chemerinsky's appointment. Anything less is an attack on the integrity, reputation, and morale of faculty, staff, and students alike at the University of California, Irvine.

Labels: SOS