UCI profs upset with chancellor

Public outcry over UC Irvine Chancellor Michael Drake’s decision to dismiss Erwin Chemerinsky four days after he was hired to be the university’s new law school dean continues to grow, with some faculty beginning to speculate his time as chancellor may soon be up.

“I just don’t know if Drake can stand the [firestorm],” said Richard McKenzie, an economics and management professor at UCI. “I bet two days ago that he wouldn’t last a week.”

McKenzie said the hiring, firing, and what he considers unclear explanations were bad on Drake’s part.

“This whole deal is bizarre at worst,” he said. “Nobody wants to work with [Drake] anymore. I see Drake going and Chemerinsky accepting a re-offer.”

Drake met with more than 200 faculty Thursday to address the firing. Some teachers say his story remains the same — much to their displeasure.

A few teachers said Drake repeated that it was a managerial decision, but shed no light on why he changed his mind.

Representatives of the university’s public relations department said Drake would be unavailable for comment Friday.

“The failure to disclose what was said and how the chancellor processed what was said, and to categorize it all under the general rubric of management leaves open the possibility for idle speculation on the part of people,” said Mark Petracca, UCI political science chairman. “He won’t talk on the grounds of confidentiality. That’s fine. Confidentiality protects the names of the people he talked to. Tell us what they said. You can tell us what they said without telling us who said it.”

Petracca and McKenzie think the reputation of the law school can be salvaged if Drake leaves; the school opens in 2009.

“It takes years to build up a good reputation. It can be destroyed in a few moments,” Petracca said. “I think Drake can be a hero by expressing his love for the university, his expectations for the law school, and by saying, ‘If I stand in the way of those things happening, then I am a big enough person to leave.’ And it has to be done soon. The longer you wait to do it, the less heroic it looks.”