* Dean and Professor, Northern Illinois University College of Law; J.D., The Ohio State University College of Law, 1974; B.A., Franklin & Marshall College, 1971.
I was extremely pleased and humbled to be asked to chair this historic panel that serves as the basis for this commentary. I wish to take this opportunity to add, in print, my heartfelt thanks to Professors Linda Greene, Linda Crane and Antoinette Sedillo Lopez for their incredible diligence and assistance in making this First National Meeting of the Regional People of Color Legal Scholarship Conferences, this Deans of Color Legal Scholarship Conference, and this “Deans of Color Speak Out” panel a success. I would also like to thank my fellow Deans of Color, both those who could be present and those who could not, for their advice, support, and, most of all, participation in this endeavor. To my fellow panelists, I give my thanks, and I hope that I have not in any way misrepresented the spirit and content of this historic endeavor.
The views expressed are wholly my own and I take all blame for the extent to which they may depart from anyone’s sense of reality. These comments are a reflection on points made during my introduction of the panel and are an expansion on those same themes. It is anticipated that these same points and views may reappear in the near future in an extended version of this piece as part of a separate and new article.
1 See generally Taunya Lovell Banks, Two Life Stories: Reflections of One Black Woman Law Professor, 6 Berkeley Women’s L.J. 46 (1990–91); John O. Calmore, Close Encounters of the Racial Kind: Pedagogical Reflections and Seminar Conversations, 31 U.S.F. L. Rev. 903 (1997).
2 See Jeffrey O’Connell & Thomas E. O’Connell, The Five Roles of the Law School Dean: Leader, Manager, Energizer, Envoy, Intellectual, 29 Emory L.J. 605, 614 (1980). The authors, in this seminal article on the nature of law school deans, look at the varied roles that deans must play that in no small part contribute to their relatively short average tenure. See generally id. Among those roles, the position of Leader is referred to as the “most magical or exalted function of the academic chief.” Id. at 610. The importance of loyalty in the traditional view of the dean is summed up in the author’s statement that “[l]oyalty to the institution and commitment to its purposes, in addition to integrity and a zest for risk-taking are . . . essential characteristics of the Leader.” Id. at 614.
3 Indeed, the viewpoint of the Critical Race Scholar has been characterized as “oppositional scholarship” that “challenges the universality of white experience/judgment as the authoritive standard that binds people of color and normatively measures, directs, controls and regulates the terms of proper thought, expression, presentment, and behavior.” John O. Calmore, Critical Race Theory, Archie Shepp, and Fire Music: Securing An Authentic Intellectual Life In a Multicultural World, 65 S. Cal. L. Rev. 2129, 2160 (1992).
4 See O’Connell & O’Connell, supra note 2, at 624 (quoting Michael D. Cohen & James G. March, Leadership and Ambiguity—The American College President 205 (1974) as stating “[w]e believe that [an academic chief] is, on the whole, better advised to think of himself as trying to do good than as trying to satisfy a political or bureaucratic audience . . .”).
5 See J. Clay Smith, Jr., Emancipation: The Making of the Black Lawyer, 1844–1944, at 33–92 (1993).
6 See id. at 42–43.
7 Dictionary of American Negro Biography 267 (Rayford W. Logan & Michael R. Winston eds., 1982), quoted in Smith, supra note 5, at 46.
8 Smith, supra note 5, at 50 (quoting Charles H. Houston, The Need for Negro Lawyers, 4 J. Negro Educ. 49, 51(1935)).
9 Shortly after settling in as dean two years ago, I called a friend of mine, who was dean at a historically Black law school, and during the course of our conversation we tried to add up the number of Deans of Color at all the American Bar Association (ABA) approved law schools. I was shocked to realize that the number was less than 10, inclusive of the four Historically Black College (HBC) associated law schools. It is symbolic of the crisis that my friend is no longer a dean and that currently, to my knowledge, there are only 12 Deans of Color—six of whom have been appointed within the last two years.
10 Witness the turn-around of the Texas Attorney General following the Hopwood decision. See Janet Elliott, Rights Leaders Fume As AG Embraces Federalism and Snubs Affirmative Action, 12 Tex. Law., May 6, 1996, at 1; see also Ken Myers, ALAS [sic] Seminar Counsels Caution When Offering Race-Based Aid, Nat’l L.J., Jan. 23, 1995, at A16, A16.
11 Such a role is certainly not the exclusive domain of Deans of Color. The courageous and forthright stand of Barbara Aldave, former dean of St. Mary’s University School of Law, is a testament to both her commitment and the necessity of deans becoming agents of opposition to negative legal norms. Faced with hostile, fear-based reactions to the Hopwood decision in Texas, Dean Aldave nonetheless confronted attempts at retrenchment with renewed efforts to ensure minority access and with strong statements in defense of affirmative action. See Remarks of Dr. Barbara Aldave: Hopwood Conference, February 12–13, 1998 (visited July 13, 1999) .
12 See generally Lino A. Graglia, Podberesky, Hopwood, and Adarand: Implications for the Future of Race-Based Programs, 16 N. Ill. Univ. L. Rev. 287 (1996).
13 See generally Richard Delgado, Storytelling for Oppositionists and Others: A Plea for Narrative, 87 Mich. L. Rev. 2411 (1988); Thomas Ross, The Richmond Narratives, 68 Tex. L. Rev. 381 (1989).
14 Letter from Scott H. Bice, President, American Law Deans Association, to ABA deans (Sept. 15, 1997)(on file with author).
15 Letter from Ronald A. Cass, Dean, Boston University School of Law, to Richard S. Wirtz, Dean, University of Tennessee College of Law (Dec. 3, 1997)(on file with author).
16 See Alice Gresham Bullock, A Dean’s Role in Supporting Recruitment of Minority Faculty, 10 St. Louis U. Pub. L. Rev. 347, 349 (1991).
17 I would like to recognize with appreciation the people who worked, in those days when our numbers were much smaller, on projects such as the hospitality suite, and in particular the work on that project of Assistant Dean Frank Motley of Indiana University School of Law.
18 As an aside I might mention the importance that wisdom drawn from experience plays in assisting faculty members of color in the selection of outside reviewers. Those of us who have been in this business a while know about the tendency of some of our colleagues to feel that no scholarly review is good unless they, as reviewers, can trash some part or all of a piece. Some of this tendency comes from the mistaken belief that their views will lack credibility unless something negative is said. While I am not suggesting that reviews should not contain criticism, I am suggesting that the wise reviewer should understand the political consequences that her or his comments will have on the success of the applicant both within the law school and within the often law school-phobic university. The problem is presented by both white and non-white reviewers. Minority faculty members and Deans of Color should realize, however, the tendency of majority, established faculty members, administrators, and university committees to point out with glee, “See! Even one of their own thinks this work stinks!” (or nicer words to that effect). We as Deans of Color should know our colleagues and solicit accordingly if we are committed to the success and growth of minority faculty subject to promotion and tenure review.
19 The problem is no less severe where the victim is a faculty member. See generally Jennifer M. Russell, On Being a Gorilla in Your Midst, or, the Life of One Blackwoman in the Legal Academy, 28 Harv. C.R.-C.L. L. Rev. 259 (1993).