UC Hastings was evacuated last week and is still on high alert as a result of a prank by a UC Berkeley law school student (see here). The UC Berkeley Boalt Hall Students Association has sent the following letter to the law students at UC Hastings:
April 26, 2007
To the U.C. Hastings College of Law community:
On behalf of students at Boalt Hall, we express our deep sympathy and sincere disapproval for the unfortunate events associated with the recent threat to the Hastings community.
Understanding the pressures common to our field of study, particularly at this stage in the academic year, we find what transpired to be particularly inappropriate. The collective discomfort on each of our campuses underscores our interdependence as students. We can only hope that this incident will strengthen the bond between our schools in the future. Please accept our sympathies.
Sincerely,
Boalt Hall Students Association
I certainly don't speak for everyone at UC Hastings, but I would like to say that I have never held the students of Boalt personally responsible for the poor judgment of a single student. However, it is certainly a nice gesture on the part of the students to send us a letter. It's appreciated.
UPDATE: Here is a letter from UC Berkeley Dean Christopher Edley, Jr. to the Boalt Hall community:
April 25, 2007
To: Boalt Community
It has been a week since the distressing events involving a Boalt student's threat -a hoax - against the community at Hastings College of the Law. I am writing to let you know that all our actions following the incident have been taken with the intention of securing the safety and well-being of our community and that at Hastings, while respecting the procedural rights of the student.
On Wednesday, April 25, 2007, the Law School filed a complaint with the U.C. Berkeley Judicial Affairs Office against the law student who claimed responsibility for posting the threat on a website. We, the administrative leadership of Boalt, believe that the student's action is clearly in violation of a number of regulations detailed in the Student Code of Conduct. The case will be adjudicated by Judicial Affairs according to campus regulations. Those regulations prohibit us from disclosing the name of the student against whom we are proceeding. Based on the facts as we understand them today, we have recommended expulsion. This is based not only on the intrinsic wrongfulness of the act itself, but also the disruption, turmoil and emotional toll on the Hastings community and, to a more limited extent, the Boalt community as well. I have received ample evidence of this through a great many emails, some of them painful to read.
This incident has once again confirmed for me the strength and qualities of the Boalt community. Even in this challenging circumstance, you have engaged in thoughtful and productive discussions. We should all take some pride in this, imperfect though we are.
Christopher Edley, Jr.
Professor of Law and Dean
This letter pretty much confirms what the blog community has been saying since the incident occurred: This student's law career is over.
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