Stanford University president Marc Tessier-Lavigne and law school dean Jenny Martinez apologized to Judge Kyle Duncan after students and faculty accosted him during a Federalist Society event.
In a joint statement to the Fifth Circuit judge, Tessier-Lavigne and Martinez said, “We write to apologize for the disruption of your recent speech at Stanford Law School.”
“As has already been communicated to our community, what happened was inconsistent with our policies on free speech, and we are very sorry about the experience you had while visiting our campus,” the continued.
The apology comes after multiple students and the university’s dean for diversity, equity, and inclusion, Tirien Steinbach, berated Duncan and would not allow him to speak. At least three other members of faculty were present and allowed the judge to be shouted down.
Judge Duncan event at Stanford from Ethics and Public Policy Center on Vimeo.
“Staff members who should have enforced university policies failed to do so, and instead intervened in inappropriate ways that are not aligned with the university’s commitment to free speech,” the letter says. “We are taking steps to ensure that something like this does not happen again.”
The letter falls short of describing disciplinary action for the students or faculty members, both of which Duncan called for in the aftermath of the incident — including the firing of Steinbach who brought a six-minute prepared monologue.
In response to receipt of the letter, Duncan told National Review, “I particularly appreciate the apology’s important acknowledgment that ‘staff members who should have enforced university policies failed to do so, and instead intervened in inappropriate ways that are not aligned with the university’s commitment to free speech.'”
“Particularly given the depth of the invective directed towards me by the protestors, the administrators’ behavior was completely at odds with the law school’s mission of training future members of the bench and bar,” Duncan continued before calling on the school to issue a similar apology to the law students who invited him to speak at Stanford’s Federalist Society chapter.
“The apology promises to take steps to make sure this kind of disruption does not occur again,” the judge concluded. “Given the disturbing nature of what happened, clearly concrete and comprehensive steps are necessary. I look forward to learning what measures Stanford plans to take to restore a culture of intellectual freedom.”
Breccan F. Thies is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter @BreccanFThies.
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