With great fanfare, the UC Berkeley campus community will symbolically usher in the tenure of its new chancellor, Nicholas Dirks, at his inauguration Friday...
Chancellor Nicholas Dirks took office in June, replacing Robert Birgeneau.
The retirement of UC torture apologists Robert Birgeneau and Christopher Edley provides an opening for restoration of ethical leadership at the university, and ending school complicity in sheltering a war criminal. There is no reason to despair of revising the legacy of Berkeley Law. Indeed, respecting the student call for a now long overdue investigation of the actions of John Yoo at the Department of Justice could go a long way towards restoring the moral health at other institutions.
Campus spokesperson Dan Mogulof says "We will be prepared for people who want their voices to be heard [here's your chance], but I think the day will be mostly positive." Former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, UC President Janet Napolitano, no stranger to student protest, will present Dirks with the Chancellor's Medal. The activist group By Any Means Necessary will be on hand to advocate her replacement.
