News/Commentary

Boorish ‘woke’ DEI dean who led harassment of federal judge is OUT at Stanford

July 21, 2023 | | Print Article

The Stanford University associate dean for diversity, equity, and inclusion who ambushed a conservative judge at a law school event last spring has resigned in disgrace.

Tirien A. Steinbach resigned on Thursday morning, according to an email announcement from Stanford Law School dean Jenny S. Martinez. Steinbach is leaving her position for “another opportunity,” Martinez claimed, according to The College Fix.

However, many critics suspect that she was forced out over the controversy and backlash that her behavior had elicited.

As previously reported, in March Stanford Law School’s chapter of the Federalist Society invited Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Kyle Duncan to speak at their campus.

In response, student activists who resent Duncan, a Trump appointee, for having refused in 2020 to allow a transgender pedophile to change his name to that of a female protested loudly and obnoxiously, disrupting the Federalist Society’s event.

Amid the disruption, DEI dean Tirien Steinbach was called in to de-escalate the situation. But instead, she launched into a pre-prepared, six-minute-long speech in which she attacked the judge.

Martinez responded at the time by placing Steinbach on leave and mandating free speech lessons for students.

She also apologized to Duncan and issued a 10-page memo in which she wrote that “the commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion actually means that we must protect free expression of all views.”

Around this same time, Steinbach wrote a column for The Wall Street Journal defending her actions.

“As soon as Judge Duncan entered the room, a verbal sparring match began to take place between the judge and the protesters. By the time Judge Duncan asked for an administrator to intervene, tempers in the room were heated on both sides,” she wrote.

“I stepped up to the podium to deploy the de-escalation techniques in which I have been trained, which include getting the parties to look past conflict and see each other as people. My intention wasn’t to confront Judge Duncan or the protesters but to give voice to the students so that they could stop shouting and engage in respectful dialogue,” she continued.

“I wanted Judge Duncan to understand why some students were protesting his presence on campus and for the students to understand why it was important that the judge be not only allowed but welcomed to speak,” she added.

Steinbach continued the op-ed by bragging further about her alleged “de-escalation” tactics.

“To defuse the situation I acknowledged the protesters’ concerns; I addressed the Federalist Society’s purpose for inviting Judge Duncan and the law school’s desire to uphold its right to do so; I reminded students that there would be a Q&A session at which they could answer Judge Duncan’s speech with their own speech, as long as they were following university rules; and I pointed out that while free speech isn’t easy or comfortable, it’s necessary for democracy, and I was glad it was happening at our law school,” she wrote.

She then questioned the importance of freedom of speech.

“At one point during the event, I asked Judge Duncan, ‘Is the juice worth the squeeze?’ I was referring to the responsibility that comes with freedom of speech: to consider not only the benefit of our words but also the consequences. It isn’t a rhetorical question. I believe that we would be better served by leaders who ask themselves, ‘Is the juice (what we are doing) worth the squeeze (the intended and unintended consequences and costs)?’ I will certainly continue to ask this question myself,” she wrote.

Steinbach concluded the op-ed by calling for society to “strike a balance between free speech and diversity, equity and inclusion.”

Following publication of the op-ed, which received massive criticism, Steinbach disappeared from the news until Wednesday, July 19th, when The College Fix ran an update revealing “how the law school refused to comment on the status of Steinbach’s employment despite requests for comment by phone and email six times over the last two weeks.”

A day later, she was out. Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not. Either way, critics were excited by the news, though most speculated that Steinbach will bounce back with a new position in a finger snap.

Look:

DONATE TO AMERICAN WIRE

If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to American Wire News to help us fight them.

$10
$15
$25
$50
Other
$
Thank you for your donation!
Vivek Saxena
Latest posts by Vivek Saxena (see all)

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

Latest Articles