University of Texas School of Law - Peregrinus Yearbook (Austin, TX)

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amed Dean of UT Law School photo by Mark Sims I ' m delighted and hope to be able to fulfill the trust that President Berdahl has placed in me. -Michael Sharlot, dean of UT School of Law After a nationwide search that lasted nearly a year, the interim dean of the UT School of Law, Michael Sharlot, was named to the position permanently March 8, 1995 Sharlot had acted as law dean since Mark Yudof was named executive vice president and provost in April of 1994. Sharlot, an expert in criminal proce- dures and former general counsel for the Peace Corps, has been a mem- ber of the UT faculty since 1969. He served as associate dean for acade- mic affairs under three deans at the School of Law. Oh, of course, I ' m delighted and hope to be able to fulfill the trust that President Berdahl has placed in me, Sharlot said. Sharlot said he had been making decisions as if he were dean. He had proceeded with new foreign pro- grams and continued development of new joint programs, he added. I knew that I would be acting dean for a very long period of time, and the school has to go on with its programs and its new initiatives, he said. Sharlot said that in the face of limit- ed state support of higher education, his goal is to make a great law school even greater. He added that his greatest chal- lenge is the same as all administra- tors - meeting demand for great edu- cation in the face of decreasing state appropriations. Yudof, who made the appointment along with Berdahl, said Sharlot will continue to advance the pluralistic vision of the law school through his commitment to international and clini- cal programs. We have students with many different interests, he said. We need for the law school to maintain that diverse charac- ter. Yudof described selecting the new law dean as a balancing process. We considered the faculty ' s views. We were considerate about the alumni and the curriculum of the law school, he said. Yudof added that Sharlot excelled in faculty opinion surveys. I think he ' s the perfect choice, said Juan Zabala, assistant dean for busi- ness affairs. He ' s an integral part of the administration. Zabala added that Sharlot ' s long his- tory with the law school has prepared him for this position. For purposes of fund raising and alumni relations ... his built-in experi- ence made him better than the other candidates, Zabala said. Sharlot received his bachelor ' s degree from Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. At the UT School of Law, he developed and directed Texas ' first clinical program for future prosecutors from 1979 to 1983. Yudof said Sharlot will put a heavy fin- ger on the scale when considering promotions of deserving professors. He ' s a good teacher himself and admires it in other people, he said. A search committee made up of faculty, alumni and students present- ed a list of four finalists last month. One of the finalist, Gene Nichol, dean of the University of Colorado School of Law, withdrew from consideration. Sharlot was chosen over Carole Goldberg-Ambrose, a professor of law at the University of California at Los Angeles, and Thomas Sullivan, dean of the University of Arizona Law School. Jonathan Quander, a second-year law student and member of the search committee, said that even though the final choice was Sharlot, the only internal candidate, the search was not in vain. The whole purpose was to identify candidates from east to west and in between, said Quander, who served as president of the Student Bar Association. The nationwide search served its purpose. The law school was not going to lose out either way. Elizabeth Colvin, a second-year law student, said that the appointment will allow the law school to return to normal procedures. I ' m really glad that the decision has been made, Colvin said. The search has taken time away from the professors. She added that Sharlot will bring con- tinuity to the law school. We know what he stands for and know what he believes, Colvin said. -Melanie Gerik

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1995 Peregriaux The University of Texas at Austin School of Law Volume 45 Austin, Texas 1)) {eaALJJ FOS 2 SUM 112 Ovganrvaiiion3 20 radox 116 Siudents 54 Spormors 121 Facu 92 AdverflUng 122 Yeathook Staff The 1995 Peregrinus was prepared by the student and professional staff of Texas Student Publications at The University of Texas at Austin School of Law. Editor-in-Chief Kristin Bodenstedt Contributing Writers John Dela Garza Melanie Gerik Alex De Marban Jill Warren Yearbook Supervisor Jerry Thompson Yearbook Assistant Mary Felps PhotographySupervisor John Foxworth Chief Photographer Mark Sims Contributing Photographers Victor Caivano Andrew Higdon Timothy Lee Jack Plunkett Table of Contents - 1

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Ci7:1 97111,o 121W Schoo AcLaaL)sions Battle by Alex De Marban Although a federal judge in August, 1994 rejected as dis- criminatory a 1992 UT School of Law admissions policy, law students applauded his decision to allow the school to contin- ue using affirmative admission procedures. Affirmative action, if done correctly, can be very beneficial, said Brent Golemon, law school representative to the Students ' Association. Of the students I ' ve come into contact with at the University - blacks, whites, Hispanics, As ians - all are very qualified and highly motivated. Four white students filed suit against the School of Law in 1992, contesting the school ' s admission policy that separated applications into minority and non-minority groups prior to review. The plaintiffs were denied entrance into the UT School of Law although they had higher grade point averages and LSAT scores than some black or Hispanic applicants. U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks, a graduate of the UT School of Law, ruled that the 1992 policy discriminated against the four plaintiffs, but he upheld affirmative action policies. It is regrettable that affirmative action programs are still needed in our soci- ety, Sparks wrote in the Aug. 19, 1994 decision. However, until society sufficiently overcomes the effects of its lengthy his- tory of pervasive racism, affirmative action is a necessity. Sparks awarded each plaintiff $1 and said they could apply to the program next year without charge. He said he would not, however, order the plaintiffs into the law school because they did not prove they would have been admitted under a non-discriminatory admissions policy. Michael Greve, executive director of the the Center for Individual rights, a public rights law firm representing the stu- dents, said the plaintiffs would appeal Sparks ' decision. He estimated that the appeal would be heard some time in 1995. Had any of us been black or Mexican-American we would ' ve gotten in, said Kenneth Elliot, one of the plaintiffs. To me, that ' s blatant racism. The other three plaintiffs are Cheryl Hopwood, Doug Carvell and David Rogers. But Jonathan Quander, president of the Student Bar Association, said his education would be inadequate if his classes did not include students from a broad racial spectrum. You can learn as much from interaction with other students as you can from professors, Quander said. Government senior Eric Barden said it is necessary to make up for financial disparities among minority students, but affir- mative action often prolongs traditional stereotypes. The law school is making an assumption that the standards need to be lowered to increase the accessibility of the law school to minorities, said Barden, who hoped to enter law school in 1994. Affirmative action is racist in the sense that it assumes that a minority individual can ' t fulfill the same standards that someone of a majority race might, Barden added. But third-year law student Debbie Lin said affirmative action helps applicants be fairly assessed because it broadens entry requirements beyond Law School Admissions Test scores and grade point averages. I think it ' s looking at the applicant as a whole person, Lin said. The previous policy was in use from 1992 through 1994, said Michael Sharlot, then interim dean of the School of Law. The policy was abandoned before the case was heard in May 1994, said law professor Samuel Issacharoff, who rep- resented the school in the case. Sharlot said the law school continues to take race into account when deciding on admissions, but no longer places the applicants into minority and non-minority groups. Elliot called the law school ' s recent change in policy a minor adjustment to the system. Not a whole lot was really accom- plished, Elliot said. photo by Mark Sims lssacharoff said procedural changes in admissions are common, but the overall policy - to increase minority enrollment - will not change. The court upheld the necessity and propriety of our actions at this institution, lssacharoff said. UT School of Law admission requirements currently take into account economic and ethnic background, race and work experience. Over the past 10 years, the percentage of black and Hispanic students enrolled in the law school has decreased, according to figures from the Office of Institutional Studies. In the fall 1984, the two minority groups together represent- ed 20 percent of the 404 incoming law students. In fall 1993, they accounted for 16 percent of the 556 incoming law students. Lawsuit - 3