"Can you believe this BS below? It is a "welcome back" email from Dean Massaro at the University of Arizona Law School in which she "addresses" the Kumari Fulbright situation. But the Dean doesn't really "address" anything. The school in effect says nothing at all...."

What, exactly, does this 'tard want beyond an acknowledgement of the situation? Most of your tipsters appear to be whiny bitches.

I think the tipster is right. Obviously the Dean can't say very much. But she can do more than hint "you may be aware of the allegations involving one of our students."

Student privacy laws have nothing to do with the (public) status of being charged with a felony. And I'm not sure that privacy laws prevent the Dean from telling students whether they potentially are having a stalking kidnapper as a classmate.

Likewise, "respect for the judicial process" is completely meaningless, unless she means that the school will presuppose innocence until a conviction. And if that's what she means, why not state it outright?

"I'm not sure that privacy laws prevent the Dean from telling students whether they potentially are having a stalking kidnapper as a classmate."

Since the stalking kidnapper has been very publically jailed, why would students suffer such a fear?

Shorter version of the Dean's email:

"A few of you have asked about the status of the matter and we have responded as follows: No comment."

Why do you have to point out that the Dean is a lesbian? What difference does it make? How is that in any way relevant to the issue of whether the school addresses what happened here?

I'm a heterosexual white male, and when I was in law school, the administration at my school was filled with straight white male hating lesbians. These people had serious career and personal frustrations and they took them out on straight white male students. Why does your blog have to publicly acknowledge someone's sexual preference, thereby implicitly adding to the already antagonizing undertones of this issue?

4:14 - stop being a pussy. hot lesbians are...well, HOT

LOL@"I'm a heterosexual white male, and when I was in law school, the administration at my school was filled with straight white male hating lesbians."

You aren't the "Iowa--Don't Go There" troll from JD Underground, are you anon3?

Si, fuerte

I'm jealous. Nothing exciting like this happened while I was at Gtown.

what the hell does "AND a lesbian" supposed to mean?

I like pussy too and you don't see anyone patting me on the back for it.

The University of South Carolina Law Review had a board member who was a convicted felon who had pled guilty to securities fraud and conspiracy last year.

oodici

Where does the email say that it will "address" the incident? That may have been the tipster's expectation, but that's not what the email claimed it was doing. It logically said that some students have asked about it, but they're not discussing it. What exactly does the tipster expect?

"On another, more serious front, you may be aware of the allegations
involving one of our students."

It should say -
"On another, more serious, front, you may be aware of the allegations
involving one of our students."

Con Law Chairs sending school-wide e-mails about student-criminals should proof-read. She is one of America's hottest law school deans though, so I guess it's OK.

4:14 & 4:40

the lesbian issue is relevant to ms. fulbright, and the dean's statement that she has a "paramount duty to our students as a body"

5:07:

>>the lesbian issue is relevant to ms. fulbright, and the dean's statement that she has a "paramount duty to our students as a body"<<

Bullshit! It's a gratuitous reference that has nothing to do with the issue.

5:15:

i forgot ... ba dum chhh

"Where does the email say that it will "address" the incident? That may have been the tipster's expectation, but that's not what the email claimed it was doing. It logically said that some students have asked about it, but they're not discussing it. What exactly does the tipster expect?"

The email says that the school has a "response" to those who have asked about the incident. And the school's response is simply an assertion that it has multiple obligations. And that's it.

The email is non-responsive to the question about the incident, and I'd expect more. At the very least, the school saying that "because of our multiple obligations, we cannot say anything about the incident."

Anon 3, author of:
"Why do you have to point out that the Dean is a lesbian? What difference does it make? How is that in any way relevant to the issue of whether the school addresses what happened here? I'm a heterosexual white male, and when I was in law school, the administration at my school was filled with straight white male hating lesbians. These people had serious career and personal frustrations and they took them out on straight white male students. Why does your blog have to publicly acknowledge someone's sexual preference, thereby implicitly adding to the already antagonizing undertones of this issue? Posted by: anon3 | January 14, 2008 04:14 PM"
>clearly you don't know how to read. This factoid, culled from a nomination to the law school dean hotties contest, was apparently deemed by its author to bear on the issue of "hot or not." Given its occurence alongside "cancer survivor," perhaps its author thought it also related to overcoming hardship. Lat's copy and paste job of this blurb was merely a memory-refershing device. You, anon3, attempted to make the factiod relevant to the issue at hand through illogic, ignorance and paranoia. It sounds like you were shot down / ridiculed / graded below the mean by female professors not because you were a straight white male but because you don't know how to make an argument, read, or write. Get over your homophobia--it's really passe for 2008.

Twenty first!

Does anyone remember some lacrosse players at Duke and a faculty/administration lynch mob that went after them without knowing all of the facts?? I personally think that the school is taking the right approach by staying out of it. Assuming that the dean wasn't present to witness the alleged incident, what details does the school have to report that it has any business passing along anyway? Get your dirt the old fashioned way -- through gossip!

Homophobia has nothing to do with noting that her being a lesbian is as relevant to this story as my 10 inch straight penis.

Best unintentional imitation of/homage to FRAT STUD yet:

"I'm a heterosexual white male, and when I was in law school, the administration at my school was filled with straight white male hating lesbians. [It was no big deal.]."

Dean Massaro kinda looks like Bebe Neuwirth...

5:06 - Her grammar is fine. And you are a real douche. That is all.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douche

The tipster is annoying. Putting aside that it would inappropriate for the dean to say anything more than what she said in the email... the law school has no obligation to comment on a student's involvement in a legal proceeding that has nothing to do with the law school or any other students. Why in the world would a student expect more info? KF is the subject of criminal proceedings, and any information relevant to it will be released by law enforcement, KF herself, her partners in crime, or the victim.

And as someone noted, the dean did not say she would "address" anything. She wrote that people have asked, and that "we have responded as follows." Then she included her response. You might want more info, but you're certainly not entitled to it. And you shouldn't have expected anything more than what you got.

And really, what do you expect her to say? "Let me be clear to all students, alumni and potential employers that the vast majority of our students are not criminals." Yeah, that would help.

Kumari would totally go down on the Dean to get back in to school again. My spicy little train wreck is hot like that.

5:24:

You sound like the typical spoiled brat, inexeperienced pinhead I encountered in law school. I didn't attempt to make the fact relevant, LAT did, and you do by posting your ridiculous diatribe.

The fact that the Dean of the law school at AZ is a lesbian has nothing to do with the schools response or lack there of. It was put there as a gratuitous reference in an attempt to appear cute. Someone's sexual preference has nothing to do with the issue. But, instead of making a cogent response, you have to resort to ad hominem attacks.

Oh, and as for your assertions about homomphobia, you're wrong. That response is typical for those whose only recourse on this front is to tar people with the tag of "homophobic." I don't care what someone's sexual preference happens to be. It shouldn't be shoved in someone's face as some sort of badge of honor. It had no place in the discussion of the issue regarding the schools response to Kumari Fulbright.

5:24 - Your legal writing professor should suspend you for your archaic and overly wordy writing. Shame on you.

i think it's stupid for her to admit that the school owes all these "duties" to various parties--she better be damn sure to keep her trap shut now. . .

Compare Penn Law's response to Joe Cho arrest:

To the Penn Law Community

You may have already heard that a second-year Penn Law student was arrested Wednesday afternoon after allegedly firing shots into a neighbor's apartment at his off-campus residence. He remains in custody.

Since becoming aware of this incident late yesterday afternoon, the Law School administration has been in constant contact with Penn's Division of Public Safety, the Vice Provost for University Life, the Counseling Office, the Provost, and others concerned with safety and security on campus. Our goal is to ensure that all members of the community are safe.

Acting on my authority under the Code of Student Conduct and Responsibility, I have temporarily suspended the student from the J.D. program. The matter will be reported to the School's Committee on Student Conduct and Responsibility for its consideration.

We expect that, when he is released, a court order will bar the student from the Penn and Drexel campuses. In the meantime, the University has sought to ensure that supportive services are being made available to him via the various agencies dealing with this matter.

From noon to 12:45 pm today, in Room 214, an open-house will be held by representatives of the Penn Police, Counseling, and Vice Provost's Office, at which time they will explain stepped-up security measures and will answer any questions you may have. Additionally, we will arrange to have counselors in the building on a drop-in basis, if any one wishes to speak to someone about this situation personally.

An event like this is unprecedented in Penn Law's long history. We are working with professionals in our response to the incident. But perhaps more importantly, the inherent strength of the Penn Law community is our greatest resource.

Sincerely,
Mike Fitts

7:58 above is EXACTLY what should have been done here. (from 4:02)

Sounds like Ms. Fullbright regrets the fact that she didn't go into cross border transactional work or bet-the-company type litigation.

What a waste.

"the already antagonizing undertones of this issue"

Oh, the plight of the poor heterosexual white male! Why don't people understand how difficult it is to live in a world where your sexual preferences are automatically respected as the "norm," your skin color is automatically accepted as "intelligent," "non-threatening," "in the country legally," and "clean," and your gender's perceptions are accepted as "objective"??

Your poor thing you. I bet your mean, man-hating mommy even told you not to drive your Benz around the block after you'd had too much Dom at your senior prom.

/sarcasm

Hey douchebag, why are YOU so uncomfortable with the fact that other people aren't exactly like you? Saying someone is a lesbian is no more "shov[ing it] in [your] face" than you holding hands with your girlfriend. But, being an entitled asshole who's blind to his own privilege, you probably don't even understand how the two things are EXACTLY THE FUCKING SAME.

5:24 was correct. Lat was just listing her "hottie" qualifications after referencing an earlier post, because that encourages people to click the hyperlink, which increases his ad revenue. Now, if you don't like the "hottie" contests or ad-supported blogging, that's another issue entirely.

8:34, why can’t you sympathize with poor anon3? The law-school lesbos are out to get him! That is the only possible reason why he hasn’t excelled in law school. And it has nothing to do with the fact that he just isn’t that smart.

Eh, Dean Massaro's response is much better than Dean Fitts. The Arizona student body already has access to all the salacious detail and handwringing that it needs via the intarwebs. If there were some proof that AZ students were at increased risk because of the incident, maybe she should have added something about campus security. But there's no suggestion that Kumari ever put anyone at risk besides her ex. Dean Fitts' tarring and feathering in advance of Cho's actual conviction is unbecoming of a lawyer.

The Dean's response was appropriate. It attempts to address the issue and encourage the students to move on with their studies. What else could she possibly do?

I have heard that she is an extremely popular Dean with both the student body and the faculty.

I think the issue is not disclosure about juicy details - rather - something along the lines of what Penn has done; something that indicates what the school has affirmatively done to address the situation and to protect the image of current students etc.

9:12, that's right! The next thing you know poor anon3 will fail the bar because he has to accept the lesbian lifestyle in order to answer one of the questions. Yeccch.

7:58 - With all due respect, keep in mind that PENN gets a lot of practice with these sorts of emails.

And why didn't Dean Fitts make the Dean Hotties contest?

Who would win in a fight? Kumari v. Party Pants...both are vicious!

Many moons ago, I nominated Dean Massaro to the Law School Dean Hottie contest. I wrote, as described, the section Lat reposted above. I wrote it because there are so very few women law school deans, and to my knowledge, only she is Out. Quietly Out, but Out nonetheless. To me, that made her hot--because I take an expansive view of the term "hot." She is an incredibley bright, talented woman, has strength of character, and is a true leader. She is and always has been very prudent about how she handles student drama. I'd bet your whiny tipster money that if said tipster (or any student) were to make an appointment with the Dean, she'd speak to him/her candidly and directly about any concerns (without violating student privacy laws) that he or she might have about the now suspended Kumari Fulbright.

I'm clearly biased in her favor, but Dean Massaro handled this perfectly well.

I'd say between FERPA and the Duke Debacle, it's an appropriate response.

i love how the people who accuse others of homophobia think it is necessary to point out that she "is a lesbian!" yay.

it is completely irrelevant to anything discussed here and you have gone out of your way to point out her difference as if it were some abnormal behavior.

everyone loves pussy.

7:12--Get thee hence to a lexicon.

[AZ] drives them to lesbianism and [I] bring them back!!

10:48, I think only one person accused you of homophobia. The rest just pointed out that you're an entitled ass. Which you are.

You've made it clear that you aren't interested in listening to perfectly logical reasons for the inclusion of her sexual orientation. It's clear that YOU are simply uncomfortable with the fact that she is a lesbian -- otherwise why go out of your way to complain about it when you think it has nothing to do with the post? If it's irrelevant, ignore it. You've made it clear you DON'T think it's irrelevant by complaining about it, what, three times now. Loser.

to the Homophobic idiots,

The dean's sexual orientation DOES relate to the portion of the story about her being hot.

See, sometimes there are B stories. You know, mini, sub-stories to make the entire article more complex and interesting. The B story relates to how she was nominated as one of America's hottest law school deans, and her overcome hardships contribute to her hottness.

Tell me, homophobic prick, why you didn't have a problem with the seemingly irrelevant blurb about her being a cancer survivor?

1:54: God, I hate it when cancer survivors are so "in your face" about it. Survive whatever illnesses you want behind closed doors, but don't make it your identity. Sheesh.

4:15 - Bwahahahahhahaha!!!

"the few capable students at the school that have BigLaw jobs."

As a recent UA grad, I'd rather have Dean Massaro comment on this. Hardly anyone from my class scored a BigLaw job. Hell, I can count the number on one hand (and I was in a tragic threshing accident as a child.)