Two of the leading faculty members at Stanford University issued a formal written apology to a federal judge after an event featuring the judge was shouted down by far-left students and several members of the faculty.
As Breitbart reports, the apology was signed by the president of Stanford University, Marc Tessier-Lavigne, and the dean of the law school, Jenny Martinez. The letter was addressed to Fifth Circuit Judge Kyle Duncan, a Trump-era appointee, who had attended an event with the Federalist Society at Stanford; at the event, Duncan was accosted by multiple students and faculty members who harassed him and shouted down his attempts to speak.
“We write to apologize for the disruption of your recent speech at Stanford Law School,” the letter begins. “As has already been communicated to our community, what happened was inconsistent with our policies on free speech, and we are very sorry about the experience you had while visiting our campus.”
Among the perpetrators was Stanford’s dean for “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI), Tirien Steinbach, who gave a six-minute tirade against Judge Duncan, as well as three other faculty members who were present at the event but did not intervene to try to stop the protesters.
“Staff members who should have enforced university policies failed to do so, and instead intervened in inappropriate ways that are not aligned with the university’s commitment to free speech,” the statement continues. “We are taking steps to ensure that something like this does not happen again.”
Although Judge Duncan specifically called for disciplinary measures against the students and the firing of Steinbach, Stanford’s statement did not outline any particular actions that the university might take, including possible punishment.
Nevertheless, Judge Duncan expressed his approval of the apology, saying “I particularly appreciate the apology’s important acknowledgment that ‘staff members who should have enforced university policies failed to do so, and instead intervened in inappropriate ways that are not aligned with the university’s commitment to free speech.’”
“The apology promises to take steps to make sure this kind of disruption does not occur again,” Duncan added. “Given the disturbing nature of what happened, clearly concrete and comprehensive steps are necessary. I look forward to learning what measures Stanford plans to take to restore a culture of intellectual freedom.”