STANFORD UNIVERSITY — A Stanford Law School associate dean who went on leave following a tense exchange with a Trump-appointed judge at a campus event in March is stepping down from her role, the head of the school announced Thursday.
Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Tirien Steinbach has decided to “pursue another opportunity,” Dean Jenny Martinez wrote in a letter to the law school community.
“The law school wishes to express appreciation for Associate Dean Steinbach’s many contributions to the law school during her time here,” Martinez said. “In the nearly two years she served in the role, she did valuable work enhancing the sense of community and belonging at the law school and supporting students, staff, faculty and alums.”
Martinez said she and Steinbach both hope the law school can move past the divisions caused by the event on March 9, when Stuart Kyle Duncan, a judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, was invited to speak to a conservative and libertarian group.
Duncan, who has argued against marriage equality and other LGBTQ+ rights in the past, was met with a chorus of boos and heated comments from student groups both in and outside the classroom where the “Guns, COVID and Twitter” talk was held.
The Stanford Daily reported that Steinbach stepped in less than half an hour into Duncan’s remarks. But instead of calming the crowd, she raised questions of her own.
“We believe that the way to address speech that feels abhorrent, that feels harmful, that literally denies the humanity of people — that one way to do that is with more speech and not less,” Steinbach said at the event. “I still ask: Is the juice worth the squeeze?”
Martinez and then-university president Marc Tessier-Lavigne later sent a letter of apology to Duncan, stating that the disruptions at the event were “inconsistent with our policies on free speech.” The dean also denounced the actions of both student protestors and administrators in a letter to the law school community on March 22.
Martinez announced in the same letter that Steinbach was on leave but did not say if it was voluntary or involuntary.
In her letter Thursday, Martinez said the event presented significant challenges for the administration, the students and the entire law school community, with tempers flaring along multiple dimensions.
“Although Associate Dean Steinbach intended to de-escalate the tense situation when she spoke at the March 9 event, she recognizes that the impact of her statements was not as she hoped or intended,” Martinez said.
“Both Dean Steinbach and Stanford recognize ways they could have done better in addressing the very challenging situation, including preparing for protests, ensuring university protocols are understood, and helping administrators navigate tensions when they arise,” she continued. “There are opportunities for growth and learning all around.”
Steinbach’s departure comes a day after Tessier-Lavinge said he would step down after a months-long investigation concluded he “failed to decisively and forthrightly correct mistakes in the scientific record” when concerns rose about his papers.
Martinez ended her more recent letter with praise for Steinbach. She said the associate dean’s office broadened outreach to include older students, veterans, religious groups, conservative groups, as well as students of color, LGBTQ+ students, low-income and first-generation college and professional school students, and others.
“The law school and I wish Dean Steinbach well in her future endeavors,” she said.