Professor Bainbridge...on law, politics, religion, culture & food

I am a 2007 graduate of Ave Maria School of Law and I want to thank Professor Bainbridge for continuing to cover the crisis at my alma mater. Mr. Dobranski’s response in this article continues to demonstrate that he fails to acknowledge the problems at Ave Maria involve far more than the decision to relocate the law school to Florida. There’s a misconception that this is just about Florida when in reality, the much larger issue is the governance of the law school which ultimately does include the decision to relocate the law school but is not the heart of the matter to those of us in disagreement. The real downfall occurred after the ABA granted accreditation to Ave Maria because instead of working on building up the law school’s reputation in its infancy, there was a dramatic shift to make a decision about Florida. It was never demonstrated to us that that the move to Florida was in the best interest of the law school at this time and even professors who disagree with the governance stated they would not necessarily have been opposed if it had been shown it was in the best interest. Furthermore, Mr. Dobranski apparently did not gain the independent financial means he was supposed to in order for the law school to operate without Mr. Monaghan’s financial contributions. The only way then that Mr. Dobranski could have seen to keep the law school functioning since he didn’t get the funds was to continue to rely on Mr. Monaghan. The administration continues to voice its criticism of those in opposition to their leadership decisions as being the force of destruction of the law school when the actions taken by the administration and the Board of Governors against members of the law school faculty can only be explained by one rationale—that those who do not agree with relocating the law school as being in the best interest of Ave Maria must be threatened or punished. Why is there such an insistence on those in these leadership positions now to use such forceful terms as “destructive” and “academic terrorists” to describe those of us who disagree if the decision to relocate the law school to Florida is so secure? The only destruction is the destruction these actions have had on the lives of those most devoted to Ave Maria’s true mission.

We came to Ave Maria for its unique mission--to protect the dignity of the human person, and we trusted that those charged with leading the law school more than anyone should be promoting that mission internally in the law school in order to prepare us to live that mission in the outside world and to bring it to the legal profession we enter. We want that mission to be restored in the law school’s governance, not to destroy what we all worked and sacrificed for to benefit Ave Maria’s growth as a premier national Catholic law school.

Very truly yours,
Laura C. Hoffman, J.D.
Ave Maria School of Law Class of 2007

I haven’t been following the Ave Maria debaucle so excuse me of my ignorance of it. I understand wanting to do what’s best for the school, but I don’t understand how the move to Florida hurts (or helps) it. Is it just blowing Monaghan’s money that could be used on other things? Does Monaghan have too much power and is doing what he wants with the school, because the shcool has to rely on him for cash? As far as how Dean Dobranski is dealing with dissenters, from Laura Hoffman’s comment, the Dean has been out of line.

Oh, Laura, Laura. All this is NOT about the so-called “unique misson” of AMSL “to protect the dignity of the human person”, if by that you mean what all law schools are supposed to be doing. (But I suspect you have a more particular meaning in mind.)

No, this is what its ALWAYS about in any heirarchial situation, as any casual acquaintancer with the history of the RCC would know:

Money & Power

Power & Money

The Dean has the Power because Mr. Monaghan has the Money. The Dean & Mr. Monaghan have found so many like-minded trustees that said body does not need to be told what to do or think, and so, as not having an endowment like Harvard’s, there’s no leverage for the board against Mr. Monaghan, even if they thought differently than he. And they do not.

And that’s just the way Mr. Monaghan wants it, or he’d have damn sure made the Dean set up a first class fundraising operation so as to be sure to replace Monaghan’s Money sooner rather than later.

You likely DO have a better law dgree than say anyone from Pat Robertson’s Liberty U. Nonetheless, current AMSL admin sold you a bill of goods and you bought it hook, line & sinker. And that Bill of Goods is

“We’re right because we know we’re right and so as we’re right, you must be wrong. And people who are wrong are evil and must be destroyed.” Most people running institutions act like this. Group-think. Though not so badly as to open themselves up to multi-million dollar lawsuits over wrongful firing.

Which Monaghan’s Money will make go away.

Hope you enjoy those Florida alumni reunions. Now get out there and defend an innocent person up against a rapacious prosector.