Asians, Crime, Law Schools, UVA Law

Taiwanese 1L Has Serious Daddy Issues

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Chen Chih-chung was kicked out of UVA Law before he could start his 1L year for missing the school’s orientation meeting.

At least that is UVA’s official response.

No ordinary 1L would be kicked out of school for missing one meeting — but Chen is no ordinary 1L. As Virginia Law Weekly reports:

[Chen] is the son of Taiwan’s former President, Chen Shui-bian, who served from 2000 to 2008. After leaving office in May, he was indicted for his alleged role in a large-scale embezzlement and money laundering scheme.

The younger Chen missed the Law School’s orientation when he flew home to cooperate with an inquiry into whether he played a role in the alleged criminal enterprise. Chen Chih-chung has since been added as a defendant in the investigation.

The family denies any wrongdoing.

Why Chen missed the mixer, after the jump.


Chen was actually in the United States and on campus in the days before UVA’s 1L orientation. However:

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Shortly before the Law School’s orientation, Chen received a summons from the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office–the highest prosecuting body in Taiwan–and was required to travel back to Taiwan. Chen was then removed from the Class of 2011 for missing the orientation for first-year law students, which the University confirmed.

What kind of law school is UVA running where a note from the “highest prosecuting body in Taiwan” doesn’t get you out of 1L orientation? Maybe UVA really does need to take a lesson from GULC.

Chen, somewhat obviously, believes that UVA kicked him out due to pressure from the Taiwanese media:

Chen has suggested that the University was acting under pressure from the Taiwanese media, telling the Taipei Times that “the school had a drastic change in [its] attitude” towards him. The same article reported that former President Chen went further, accusing the University of telling his son not to attend because of pressure from Taiwanese media. Chen Chih-chung later told the Times that he left the school in part to avoid the media that had swarmed on Grounds.

UVA insists that Chen was removed because he missed orientation, not because of outside pressure.

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Is that really the best line they could come up with at UVA? Couldn’t they have planted an illegally obtained Patriot Missile in Chen’s room or something?

Put it like this: would you rather (a) have your school kick out students due to intense international media pressure, or (b) have your school kick out students who miss a silly orientation meeting? It seems to me that Chen’s allegations put UVA Law in a better light than the truth UVA’s press office is selling.

Foreign Media Circus Descends on Law School [Virginia Law Weekly]

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