Co-Synthesis of Dynamics Behind the Dearth of Asian American Law Professors: A Unique Narrative

Abstract

When his faculty directed him not to hire an Asian American woman' as a law professor, the law Dean resigned in protest. Professor Derrick A. Bell, Jr., then Dean of the University of Oregon Law School, quit at the end of a tumultuous two-hour faculty meeting on February 6, 1985, after his staff decided against hiring the Asian American woman a faculty position. In an interview, Bell said, "I am not charging my faculty with racism ... I just could not deal with the hypocrisy inherent in my remaining as Dean and presiding over an ever-dwindling number of minorities on law faculties." Today, there remains a dearth of Asian American female law professors. By "Asian American,"' I refer to persons of Asian descent who live in the United States, regardless of citizenship status. In 2007, Asian Americans constituted five percent of the population, but less than one percent of law professors were Asian American women.4 This statistic is