Education

Judge Duncan Calls On Stanford To Fire DEI Dean That Participated In Student Uproar

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Federal Judge Kyle Duncan has called on Stanford University to fire the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Dean who participated in a student-led revolt against his appearance at the law school.

Judge Duncan appeared at Stanford Law to speak at an event hosted by the Federalist Society chapter on campus. The event quickly turned sour after protestors heckled him, accusing him of transphobia and suppressing black voters. Conservative judges facing backlash during campus visits is not unprecedented. However, this instance featured a new twist: the school’s associate dean of diversity, equity, and inclusion joined the uproar.

Tirien Steinbauch, the school’s associate DEI dean interrupted Duncan’s remarks and accused him of using his authority to perpetuate discrimination and oppression of various marginalized groups. She gave a minutes long speech, claiming that his work on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit caused “harm.”

 

“Your opinions from the bench land as absolute disenfranchisement” Steinbauch said.

“Do you have something so incredibly important to say,” Steinbauch added, asking if it is worth “division of these people?”

After the video and story went viral, Federal Judge Kyle Duncan said he was treated like “dogshit” during his visit and requested that Stanford Law terminate the administrator that disrupted him, according to an interview in the Washington Free Beacon.

“If enough of these kids get into the legal profession, the rule of law will descend into barbarism,” Duncan told the Washington Free Beacon. (RELATED: Colleges — And Students — Took An Axe To Free Speech In 2022. Here Are Some Of The Worst Examples)

Stanford Law Dean Jenny Martinez said in a statement that students are not permitted to obstruct a speaker’s right to speech at the university.

“However well-intentioned, attempts at managing the room in this instance went awry,” Martinez said in the statement according to Reuters, “The way this event unfolded was not aligned with our institutional commitment to freedom of speech.”