{"id":145735,"date":"2026-03-10T13:21:54","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T21:21:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/03\/10\/former-minority-student-dean-sues-rutgers-law-over-firing\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T13:21:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T21:21:54","slug":"former-minority-student-dean-sues-rutgers-law-over-firing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/03\/10\/former-minority-student-dean-sues-rutgers-law-over-firing\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Minority Student Dean Sues Rutgers Law Over Firing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Picking a dean can come down to a games of politicking. Firing deans can too. Over the last few years, we\u2019ve seen employers nix diversity-focused positions to avoid getting sued because the Supreme Court decided that the Fourteenth Amendment hates measures that help minorities enjoy privileges and rights long denied to them, actually. Clifford Dawkins Jr., a former assistant dean at Rutgers Law, was fired over his responses to diversity matters. He recently launched a suit over his treatment at Rutgers Law. Reuters<\/a> has coverage:<\/p>\n

\n

[Clifford Dawkins Jr.] said in a new lawsuit that he was fired after he questioned how funds raised for \u200bdiversity efforts were spent and school officials accused him of \u201cwatering down\u201d a \u200cminority student program in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court\u2019s 2023 decision banning the consideration of race in admissions.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Firing a dean for questioning where the money goes? Considering that fundraising is a huge part of their job description, wouldn\u2019t it make sense for them to have some interest in making sure that the money goes toward the stated ends? Let\u2019s look at the details: <\/p>\n

\n

Dawkins said his relationship with Bond began to sour in 2023 when he objected to \u200cthe \u2060school using about $20,000 raised during the Minority Student Program\u2019s annual gala toward an overall law school deficit.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

At face value that sort of objection makes total sense. Granted, 2023 was a watershed year in terms of diversity-related managerial decisions for obvious reasons, but that doesn\u2019t mean you should be able to just redirect funds given for a specific reason willy-nilly. The second pain points also seems to have strong roots in the Court\u2019s SFFA v. Harvard<\/em> decision:<\/p>\n

\n

Dawkins said \u200bhe faced further hostility \u2060after he sought in 2025 to include white and affluent students in the Minority Student Program in an effort to ensure \u200bit complied with the Supreme Court\u2019s 2023 ruling.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Again, appears to be fair game. It should have been obvious that a new basis for diversity \u2014 race-based or otherwise \u2014 should have been thoroughly fleshed out<\/a> in light of mounting pressure to de-divers duifye to ahistoric readings of the Fourteenth Amendment being preferred to the truth<\/a> and Trump promising to get rid of DEI to bring back merit-based leadership and competent decision making<\/a>. No clue on the ETA on that; it seems like the identity preference just shifted toward demanding fealty to Trump if they want summer jobs<\/a>. Orange really is the new Black, I guess.<\/p>\n

Jokes aside, Dawkins\u2019s inclusion of White and affluent students seems less like \u201cwatering down\u201d the the program (again, few things could douse it more than SFFA v. Harvard<\/em>) and more like good optics. Just look at the basis for so many of the spite suits we\u2019ve seen recently. FASORP suing Northwestern because they aren\u2019t White enough deserves a mention, but the biggest mover in this space might be Blum & Co. suing any and every summer program<\/a> that was focused on law students hailing from historically underrepresented groups in the legal industry. Few things would serve as terminal defense in a lawsuit like being able to point to Old Money Steve\u2122 to show that the minority group\u2019s actions are in line with SCOTUS holdings. Also, can we be honest with each other? Many minority groups have been open to anyone who wants to join for a while now \u2014 here\u2019s an article<\/a> on Harvard\u2019s BLSA opening themselves up to non-Black members over 30 years ago<\/em>. It looks like the watering down accusation assumes some level of \u201cpurity\u201d that hasn\u2019t been the case for decades.<\/p>\n

On balance there are worse ways to engage cautiously with SCOTUS canning diversity. It isn\u2019t like he said the students couldn\u2019t use the word Black on any of their advertisements or anything. <\/p>\n

The complaint alleges additional inequities like barring him from speaking at faculty meetings, a defamation claim, and unnecessary investigations into legal work he\u2019s done outside of the university. He\u2019s suing for reinstatement, back pay, and punitives. Whatever the outcome, I hope that it benefits the students.<\/p>\n

Ex-Minority Student Dean Sues Rutgers Law School Over Firing<\/a> [Reuters]<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord\u2122 in the Facebook group\u00a0Law School Memes for Edgy T14s . \u00a0He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boat builder who is learning to swim and is interested in rhetoric, Spinozists and humor. Getting back in to cycling wouldn\u2019t hurt either. You can reach him by email at\u00a0cwilliams@abovethelaw.com <\/a>and by tweet at\u00a0@WritesForRent<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Former Minority Student Dean Sues Rutgers Law Over Firing<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Picking a dean can come down to a games of politicking. Firing deans can too. Over the last few years, we\u2019ve seen employers nix diversity-focused positions to avoid getting sued because the Supreme Court decided that the Fourteenth Amendment hates measures that help minorities enjoy privileges and rights long denied to them, actually. Clifford Dawkins Jr., a former assistant dean at Rutgers Law, was fired over his responses to diversity matters. He recently launched a suit over his treatment at Rutgers Law. Reuters<\/a> has coverage:<\/p>\n

\n

[Clifford Dawkins Jr.] said in a new lawsuit that he was fired after he questioned how funds raised for \u200bdiversity efforts were spent and school officials accused him of \u201cwatering down\u201d a \u200cminority student program in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court\u2019s 2023 decision banning the consideration of race in admissions.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Firing a dean for questioning where the money goes? Considering that fundraising is a huge part of their job description, wouldn\u2019t it make sense for them to have some interest in making sure that the money goes toward the stated ends? Let\u2019s look at the details: <\/p>\n

\n

Dawkins said his relationship with Bond began to sour in 2023 when he objected to \u200cthe \u2060school using about $20,000 raised during the Minority Student Program\u2019s annual gala toward an overall law school deficit.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

At face value that sort of objection makes total sense. Granted, 2023 was a watershed year in terms of diversity-related managerial decisions for obvious reasons, but that doesn\u2019t mean you should be able to just redirect funds given for a specific reason willy-nilly. The second pain points also seems to have strong roots in the Court\u2019s SFFA v. Harvard<\/em> decision:<\/p>\n

\n

Dawkins said \u200bhe faced further hostility \u2060after he sought in 2025 to include white and affluent students in the Minority Student Program in an effort to ensure \u200bit complied with the Supreme Court\u2019s 2023 ruling.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Again, appears to be fair game. It should have been obvious that a new basis for diversity \u2014 race-based or otherwise \u2014 should have been thoroughly fleshed out<\/a> in light of mounting pressure to de-divers duifye to ahistoric readings of the Fourteenth Amendment being preferred to the truth<\/a> and Trump promising to get rid of DEI to bring back merit-based leadership and competent decision making<\/a>. No clue on the ETA on that; it seems like the identity preference just shifted toward demanding fealty to Trump if they want summer jobs<\/a>. Orange really is the new Black, I guess.<\/p>\n

Jokes aside, Dawkins\u2019s inclusion of White and affluent students seems less like \u201cwatering down\u201d the the program (again, few things could douse it more than SFFA v. Harvard<\/em>) and more like good optics. Just look at the basis for so many of the spite suits we\u2019ve seen recently. FASORP suing Northwestern because they aren\u2019t White enough deserves a mention, but the biggest mover in this space might be Blum & Co. suing any and every summer program<\/a> that was focused on law students hailing from historically underrepresented groups in the legal industry. Few things would serve as terminal defense in a lawsuit like being able to point to Old Money Steve\u2122 to show that the minority group\u2019s actions are in line with SCOTUS holdings. Also, can we be honest with each other? Many minority groups have been open to anyone who wants to join for a while now \u2014 here\u2019s an article<\/a> on Harvard\u2019s BLSA opening themselves up to non-Black members over 30 years ago<\/em>. It looks like the watering down accusation assumes some level of \u201cpurity\u201d that hasn\u2019t been the case for decades.<\/p>\n

On balance there are worse ways to engage cautiously with SCOTUS canning diversity. It isn\u2019t like he said the students couldn\u2019t use the word Black on any of their advertisements or anything. <\/p>\n

The complaint alleges additional inequities like barring him from speaking at faculty meetings, a defamation claim, and unnecessary investigations into legal work he\u2019s done outside of the university. He\u2019s suing for reinstatement, back pay, and punitives. Whatever the outcome, I hope that it benefits the students.<\/p>\n

Ex-Minority Student Dean Sues Rutgers Law School Over Firing<\/a> [Reuters]<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord\u2122 in the Facebook group\u00a0Law School Memes for Edgy T14s . \u00a0He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boat builder who is learning to swim and is interested in rhetoric, Spinozists and humor. Getting back in to cycling wouldn\u2019t hurt either. You can reach him by email at\u00a0cwilliams@abovethelaw.com <\/a>and by tweet at\u00a0@WritesForRent<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Former Minority Student Dean Sues Rutgers Law Over Firing<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Picking a dean can come down to a games of politicking. Firing deans can too. Over the last few years, we\u2019ve seen employers nix diversity-focused positions to avoid getting sued because the Supreme Court decided that the Fourteenth Amendment hates measures that help minorities enjoy privileges and rights long denied to them, actually. Clifford Dawkins […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":145726,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-145735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Chris-Williams-2025-lMXsod.jpg?fit=512%2C288&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145735\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}