{"id":130919,"date":"2023-07-19T00:56:32","date_gmt":"2023-07-19T04:56:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/?p=130919"},"modified":"2023-07-19T00:56:32","modified_gmt":"2023-07-19T04:56:32","slug":"stanford-law-refuses-comment-on-fate-of-dei-dean-who-helped-shout-down-judge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/stanford-law-refuses-comment-on-fate-of-dei-dean-who-helped-shout-down-judge\/","title":{"rendered":"Stanford Law refuses comment on fate of DEI dean who helped shout down judge"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stanford Law School is refusing to comment on the status of Tirien Steinbach, its diversity, equity and inclusion associate dean who was placed on administrative leave<\/a> this spring after she helped shout down a federal judge during his guest speech.<\/p>\n

The College Fix<\/em> reached out to Stanford Law School for comment six times over the last two weeks through email and phone calls to ask whether or not Steinbach is still employed at the school and when, if at all, her leave will be lifted.<\/p>\n

The law school did not respond to any request for comment.<\/p>\n

In her bio for a June 26 op-ed<\/a> published at The Hill<\/em>, Steinbach is referred to as an \u201cattorney who has served as associate dean for diversity, equity and inclusion at Stanford Law School,\u201d using past-tense wording. But Stanford Law\u2019s website still has Steinbach listed in its directory<\/a> as an associate dean.<\/p>\n

Steinbach was reached for comment at her personal email, and she has not responded to requests from The College Fix.<\/em><\/p>\n

Steinbach became the focus of national controversy in March after she stood by while rowdy and vulgar student protesters shouted down Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Kyle Duncan as he attempted to give a speech.<\/p>\n

As The College Fix<\/em> previously reported<\/a>, Duncan called for an administrator to help restore order, whereupon Steinbach came to the podium and gave her own lengthy protest speech.<\/p>\n

In a prepared statement<\/a>, Steinbach said she was \u201cpained\u201d to inform Duncan that he was \u201cwelcome here\u201d at Stanford to give his talk. But \u201cis the juice worth the squeeze\u201d Steinbach said, an apparent metaphor as to whether Duncan\u2019s right to speak was worth the pain his words would cause students.<\/p>\n

Her lengthy tirade garnered national attention, and many called for her to be removed from the SLS faculty, including<\/a> three students. Steinbach was placed on leave<\/a> in late March.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst, Associate Dean Tirien Steinbach is currently on leave. Generally speaking, the university does not comment publicly on pending personnel matters, and so I will not do so at this time,\u201d Stanford Law Dean Jenny Martinez stated in a March 22 memo regarding the incident.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do want to express concern over the hateful and threatening messages she has received as a result of viral online and media attention and reiterate that actionable threats that come to our attention will be investigated and addressed as the law permits,\u201d Martinez wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cFinally, it should be obvious from what I have stated above that at future events, the role of any administrators present will be to ensure that university rules on disruption of events will be followed, and all staff will receive additional training in that regard,\u201d Martinez added.<\/p>\n

As Judge Duncan had entered the classroom, one protestor screamed<\/a>: \u201cWe hope your daughters get raped!\u201d An apology letter<\/a> was written to Duncan two days after the event, and he graciously accepted it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI appreciate receiving Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne\u2019s and Stanford Law Dean Jenny Martinez\u2019s written apology for the disruption of my speech at the law school. I am pleased to accept their apology,\u201d Duncan told<\/a> National Review.<\/em><\/p>\n

Although Steinbach violated the law school\u2019s disruption policy, there is word she may return in the fall. Speech First published a video<\/a> in early July saying that a \u201cpaid administrative vacation is not enough.\u201d The free speech group did not respond to requests for comment on the topic.<\/p>\n