‘Fess up, Chancellor Drake

opposition“he was receiving from unnamed Republicans. If an Op-Ed can trulyget an academic — even an administrator— fired, then that’s a data point about the erosion of ourfree-speech climate that we deserve to know about.

And if indeed there are Republicans powerful enough to scotch thehiring of a well-known liberal dean, we need to know who theyare, and how exactly they wield their power, so that we can prepareourselves for next time, or take measures to reduce improperinfluence.

And perhaps most relevantly, if a chancellor is just using thechimera of powerful Republicans to justify his own sloppy handlingof a personnel decision, we need to know that too, because we’repaying his salary.

Instead of any of that, here’s what Drake said Monday in aconference call with reporters, after being asked what concretedisagreements had been ironed out during his Sunday reconciliationwith Chemerinsky. I’ll quote the answer in full, to give maximumflavor to Drake’s evasive language:

Note the flagrant and ongoing refusal to take responsibility for amess of Drake’s own creation: parts of conversations taken outof context and blown into things that have been quiteenergy-intensive and destructive.

Destructive to Drake’s and UC Irvine’s reputation, sure — anddeservedly so. But destructive to the rest of us too. It doesn’ttake much in campus politics to unleash mutual recriminations, andthere’s a population of politicized observers who want nothing morethan to believe the absolute worst from their rhetoricaladversaries. People who believe Orange County to be the home ofknuckle-dragging neanderthals had their biases reinforced thisweek, as did conservatives embittered by double-standards of”academic freedom.”

Much of that could be waved away with a single honest explanationfrom Chancellor Drake. The fact that he won’t give one sayssomething much worse about UC Irvine than a mere five days’ worthof bad headlines.