CUNY Law School Dean Leaving Over 'Slaveholder' Remark

This response shouldn't be such an outlier.

Mary Lu Bilek is leaving her post as dean of CUNY after an off-hand remark at a personnel meeting left her convinced that rebuilding the trust required to lead the school would be too much of a burden on the school.

The revelation came in an email sent over the weekend to the CUNY community. Per the New York Post:

Bilek said that when she dropped the “slaveholder” reference, she was taking the blame for a hiring proposal some colleagues thought would have a “disparate racial impact.”

“In a misguided effort to draw an analogy to a model of reparations in order to place blame on myself, as Dean, for racial inequities at our school, I thoughtlessly referred to myself as the ‘slaveholder’ who should be held responsible,” Bilek wrote.

“I realized it was wrong the minute I heard myself say it and couldn’t believe the word had come out of my mouth.”

It’s still not entirely clear from that account what happened, but Bilek has taken full responsibility for what happened, apologized, and sought out counseling, which is such a refreshing change of pace. The law school beat is riddled with professors brazenly engaging in repugnant behavior and affirmatively doubling down. By contrast, Bilek’s handling of the situation should be the norm.

Well, the norm should be never having these situations come up in the first place, but barring that, this is the right way to handle it.


HeadshotJoe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

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