University Gift Agreement Raises Questions
November 9, 2007 | Read Time: 1 minute
The University of California at Irvine gave the real-estate developer Donald Bren the right to be consulted in the selection of a dean for its new law school in exchange for his $20-million donation as part of an eight-page gift agreement, reports Los Angeles Times.
The agreement required Irvine’s chancellor and the chair of the search committee for a law-school dean to “periodically and confidentially consult” with the Donald Bren Foundation in choosing a dean.
Some people connected with the university feel that the agreement may have been behind the actions of Chancellor Michael Drake when he abruptly fired Erwin Chemerinsky as founding dean in September only to offer him the job again five days later.
Thus far, the chancellor has refused to provide a full explanation of the chain of events, leading many to conclude that the Bren Foundation may have been behind the initial firing.
In a statement issued Thursday, however, the Bren Foundation said, “Neither the foundation nor Mr. Bren was consulted prior to the hiring, and as we’ve stated before, Mr. Bren didn’t know enough about Dr. Chemerinsky to offer an opinion, and has not offered an opinion on Dr. Chemerinsky in the past or up to this moment.”
Jeffrey S. Brand, dean of the University of San Francisco School of Law, called the language in the agreement “dangerous” and said it “could be viewed as a subterfuge permitting undue influence.”
Mr. Drake did not respond to calls from the Times seeking comment Thursday.
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