Prof @UCDavisLaw. Teach con law & civil procedure, write about academic freedom and aesthetics. Author of The Opinionated University (@UChicagoPress 2025)
Aug 28, 2021 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
Lots of people are applying for jobs at a UC right about now--which is awesome, especially if its @UCDavisLaw --and a few have reached out to me for advice about the required diversity, equity, & inclusion (DEI) statements. Turns out it's a subject on which I have a LOT to say:
So here's some advice, in case it's useful. First, focus on what you've done or plan to do, not on abstract statements about how much you care about students of all backgrounds. This is a chance for reflection on what you've (hopefully) done to make your field more inclusive.
Jun 10, 2021 • 8 tweets • 4 min read
Another day, another factually inaccurate critique of UC's use of diversity statements. A thread.
newdiscourses.com/2021/03/univer… via @NewDiscourses
The conflation begins early: while all faculty applicants at UC submit DEI statements, the general use of DEI statements is much different than the way they've been used in the Advancing Faculty Diversity Initiative searches, which are specially-funded, targeted & small-scale.
Jun 2, 2021 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Amazing here how the authors trot out all the usual misrepresentations about how UC actually uses DEI statements, then fail to note how UC already does EVERYTHING the authors suggest as better paths forward. chronicle.com/article/how-to…
As usual, the authors fail to note that the 5 (not 8) searches at Berkeley that attracted 893 applicants in 2018 were specifically searching for faculty who had made strong DEI contributions. That was the job description, not some add on. This is not our general hiring procedure.
Apr 14, 2021 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
Big academic freedom news: Zoom has officially announced that it is handing off content moderation to universities for (almost) everything hosted on university Zoom accounts that is "related to the institution's academics or operations."
