The Stanford University DEI dean who accosted a Trump-appointed federal judge during a Federalist Society event is resigning from the law school after months of icy relations with the administration and student body.
Tirien Steinbach, associate director for diversity, equity, and inclusion, is leaving her role for another opportunity, Stanford Law School (SLS) said Thursday in an announcement obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
In March, Steinbach and a mob of unruly law students disrupted a Stanford Federalist Society event for Kyle Duncan, a Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals judge. His talk was on “Covid, Guns, and Twitter.”
In response to repeated heckling, Duncan asked for an administrator, according to the Stanford Review’s account. Instead, Steinbach took the podium and delivered a prepared six-minute rebuke to the guest.
“Your work has caused harm . . . and I know that must be uncomfortable to hear,” she reprimanded. When Duncan retorted, the students yelled, “Let her finish!”
After insisting she supported Duncan’s right to share his thoughts, Steinbach criticized Stanford’s free speech policy.
“I understand why people feel like the harm is so great that we might need to reconsider those policies,” she said. “And luckily they’re in a school where they can learn the advocacy skills to advocate for those changes.”
The SLS email confirming Steinbach’s departure suggested the administration disapproved of her conduct at the event, when “tempers flared along multiple dimensions.”
Although she “intended to de-escalate the situation when she spoke at the March 9 event, she recognizes that the impact of her statements was not as she hoped for intended,” SLS wrote.
In the direct aftermath of Steinbach’s inappropriate scolding, Stanford president Marc Tessier-Lavigne and Stanford law school dean Jenny Martinez issued a joint letter of apology to Duncan for violating university free speech policies.
“…what happened was inconsistent with our policies on free speech, and we are very sorry about the experience you had while visiting our campus,” they wrote.