Conservative Law Professors Who Have ‘Had Enough’ Are Leaving Acadmia
“I figured I could accomplish a lot more in life if I didn’t have to deal with the everyday stresses and strains of being somewhere I’m not wanted”
It’s hard to work in a field that is generally hostile to your way of thinking.
The College Fix reports:
Center-right law professors ‘have had enough,’ leaving academia for other opportunities
Conservative law school professors commented on their upcoming departures from academia following UCLA law Professor Eugene Volokh’s announced move to a conservative think tank.
Gail Heriot, a professor at the University of San Diego School of Law, discussed her planned exit from academia in an email to The College Fix.
“I can only speak for myself and not for my four other center-right faculty colleagues who are also in the process of retiring.” Heriot wrote. “But in recent years it became obvious that USD’s administration would rather not have someone with my views around.”
“I figured I could accomplish a lot more in life if I didn’t have to deal with the everyday stresses and strains of being somewhere I’m not wanted,” she continued.
“Conservatives are leaving law faculties,” Heriot posted recently on X. “At U San Diego, five center-right law professors (including me) have had enough & are getting out.”
The Fix emailed Professor Volokh last week with questions regarding his move to the Hoover Institution and the state of right-wing law professors in academia.
“I expect to work on much the same projects at Hoover (which I view as part of ‘academia’) as I worked on at UCLA,” Volokh wrote. “I just hope to have more time and support to work on them.”
“I don’t really have much to say about right-leaning law professors in academia more broadly,” he said.
Volokh is a law professor at UCLA Law and currently a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution, according to his university bio.
Conservatives are leaving law faculties. UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh is retiring at the ripe old age of 56 & going the the Hoover Institution full time. At U San Diego, five center-right law professors (including me) have had enough & are getting out.https://t.co/Oj9KES2ItB
— Gail Heriot (@GailHeriot) September 22, 2023
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Comments
Glad it was Mike who wrote this article and not our Professor. Scary.
“If everyone is thinking alike, then no one is thinking.” — Benjamin Franklin
Unfortunately, the admins at law schools see this as a win.
If I weren’t retired, I would probably leave with these other academics. Although I enjoyed my 40-year career as an academic, in today’s politicized environment I would probably go into industry, where the administrators are relatively sane.