On March 10, 2016, UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks accepted the resignation of Sujit Choudhry as dean of the university’s School of Law, effective immediately. Under the University of California’s tenure policy, Choudhry remains a member of the school’s faculty at present. Chancellor Dirks and Provost Claude Steele provided the following statement:
“We believe the dean’s resignation is an outcome in the best interests of Berkeley Law and the university as a whole. At the same time we are under no illusion that a resignation could or even should bring this matter and broader, related issues to a close. It is clear, as we heard during our meeting with law school faculty this morning, that the initial decision not to remove the dean from his position is the subject of legitimate criticism.
“We can and must do better as a campus administration. We must move in the direction of stronger sanctions, and in doing this we want and need the broad input of the campus community.
“We are sharply focused on this issue and committed to ensuring a supportive and safe environment for every single person on this campus. We will act quickly to generate action that will produce lasting change in our culture and practices.
“Tomorrow we will be reaching out to faculty leaders for their help in quickly putting all of these commitments into motion.”