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Former University of Chicago Law School dean: Obama was never offered tenure
Daily Caller ^ | 9-12-12 | Charles C. Johnson

Posted on 09/12/2012 7:41:34 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic

A longtime professor and one-time dean of the University of Chicago Law School told The Daily Caller that Barack Obama was never offered tenure, despite the assertions of a New York Times reporter who covers the president and the first family.

“Other faculty members dreamed of tenured positions; [Obama] turned them down,” wrote Times White House Correspondent Jodi Kantor, author of “The Obamas,” in a July 30, 2008 profile of the president’s twelve years as a lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School.

And yet, according to longtime University of Chicago law professor Richard Epstein, Obama was never actually offered a tenured faculty position. Nor, for that matter, was he ever a “constitutional law professor.”

“I have no idea where Jodi got her story” about the tenure offer, said Epstein, adding that he immediately wrote Kantor to tell her she was wrong.

“Tenure offers require votes from faculties approved by the provost, and need a scholarly output. He was approached with the possibility of an entry level position without tenure, but it never got to the faculty for want of interest on his side,” Epstein confirmed via email.

Epstein was the law school’s interim dean during 2001. His account contradicts a claim Kantor has repeatedly made, that a tenure offer came from Dean Daniel Fischel.

“Mr. Obama turned the offer down,” Kantor wrote in 2008. She expanded on that claim later that day, writing for a Times blog. “When the law school tried to hire Mr. Obama after his failed 2000 congressional race, it was for a tenured job.” Kantor wrote. “In our interview, I asked [Fischel] if he meant ‘tenure-track,’ and he said no.”


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2012; bias; chicagolawschool; democrats; epstein; kantor; lies; media; obama; obamabio; obamatruthfile; tenure
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1 posted on 09/12/2012 7:41:38 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
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To: afraidfortherepublic

” And yet, according to longtime University of Chicago law professor Richard Epstein, Obama was never actually offered a tenured faculty position. Nor, for that matter, was he ever a “constitutional law professor.” “

LOL!! He was a lowly “instructor” which is equivalent to a student teacher.


2 posted on 09/12/2012 7:44:33 AM PDT by stephenjohnbanker (God, family, country, mom, apple pie, the girl next door and a Ford F250 to pull my boat.)
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To: afraidfortherepublic
Hmmm....so who's lying here,Mr Epstein or Osama Obama?

Pondering....pondering....

3 posted on 09/12/2012 7:46:34 AM PDT by Gay State Conservative (If Obama's Reelected Imagine The Mess He'll Inherit!)
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To: stephenjohnbanker

It no longer matters that he lies, or why he no longer has his license to practice law. There is no sense of shame in Obama, and there is no concern about it in the electorate that supports him.

Moral standards have disappeared.

Yearning is king, and desire is met...that is all that matters.


4 posted on 09/12/2012 7:46:39 AM PDT by LachlanMinnesota
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To: stephenjohnbanker

And to be a prof...one has to “publish”. Don’t recall any “scholarly publications”.


5 posted on 09/12/2012 7:46:50 AM PDT by RushIsMyTeddyBear (Bocephus hits a home run! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt_vjPqAVzI)
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To: afraidfortherepublic
What is that old saying about a 'house of cards'?

It must really bite when his carefully structured bio starts exposing his rear-end.

6 posted on 09/12/2012 7:47:03 AM PDT by Slyfox
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To: stephenjohnbanker
"LOL!! He was a lowly “instructor” which is equivalent to a student teacher."

Actually he wasn't even an "instructor". I believe his official position was "visiting lecturer". One step up from teaching assistant.

7 posted on 09/12/2012 7:48:26 AM PDT by circlecity
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To: afraidfortherepublic

He was obviously the token minority that looked good on the roster but actually didn’t teach anything. That’s the wax fruit that falls from the Affirmative Action tree at universities across the country.

Wonder how much Harvard paid him to use his name there, a la Fauxcahontas?


8 posted on 09/12/2012 7:49:11 AM PDT by txrefugee
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To: stephenjohnbanker

Stupid premise. Adjuncts are not tenure track.


9 posted on 09/12/2012 7:49:19 AM PDT by jimfree (In Nov 2012 my 12 y/o granddaughter has more relevant&quality executive experience than Barack Obama)
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To: Slyfox

I was delighted the other day after speaking to my good neighbor who’s a Blue Dog Democrat. He’s “awakened”. Calls Obama “The Manchurian Candidate”. Hehe!


10 posted on 09/12/2012 7:49:47 AM PDT by RushIsMyTeddyBear (Bocephus hits a home run! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt_vjPqAVzI)
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To: afraidfortherepublic


11 posted on 09/12/2012 7:50:48 AM PDT by Iron Munro ("In any compromise between good and evil, it is only evil that can profit." - Ayn Rand)
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To: stephenjohnbanker

IMO, there is no shame in being an instructor. Maybe it’s “lowly” in the academic hierarchy, but it’s a respectable job. What makes it not respectable, is when it’s an Affirmative Action hire, and undeserved.

I feel sorry for anyone in any of his classes. If his teaching style was anything like his current speaking style, it must have been atrocious. Did he have teleprompters in class? Did someone write out speeches for him to deliver? The thought of him teaching boggles the mind.


12 posted on 09/12/2012 7:51:28 AM PDT by generally (Don't be stupid. We have politicians for that.)
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To: afraidfortherepublic

2008 Times report, eh?

Well now we know he was never offered tenure, never a constitutional law scholar. And of course, we’ve all come to experience that he was never an expert on the economy, fiscal budgets, education, the environment, energy, healthcare, or foreign affairs.

What a f’n loser.


13 posted on 09/12/2012 7:52:14 AM PDT by gotribe (WTF?)
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To: jimfree

Stupid premise. Adjuncts are not tenure track.
_________________________________________________________

Yep. Part-timers are not eligible for tenure. If they get a full-time gig, they have an “observation period” for 3 years (depending on the institution, I think).

Then, if they DO get tenure, they have to publish.


14 posted on 09/12/2012 7:53:13 AM PDT by RushIsMyTeddyBear (Bocephus hits a home run! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt_vjPqAVzI)
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To: afraidfortherepublic

Epstein is a LEGEND.

(but was he Dean at Chicago? If so, just another feather in his cap, but sort of an extra feather...he is a truly monumental scholar).


15 posted on 09/12/2012 8:03:59 AM PDT by ConservativeDude
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To: generally

“If his teaching style was anything like his current speaking style, it must have been atrocious.”

Maybe he was honing his current speaking style (serious and then “Cousin Pookie”, “piece of the pie” speeches).


16 posted on 09/12/2012 8:14:35 AM PDT by hummingbird
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To: afraidfortherepublic

The Incompetent One is too lazy and not bright enough to publish.


17 posted on 09/12/2012 8:17:14 AM PDT by Marathoner 244
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To: Marathoner 244
Nail meets hammer...for all his supposed intellectual prowess, Obama is one of the dumbest presidents in American history, as evidenced by his various observations during “unscripted” moments.

Barry learned a long time ago that his ethnicity, speaking skills and “foreign” background (real or imagined) could open a lot of doors for him, and he took full advantage. In fact, Zero never stayed with anything very long, from community organizing to practicing law, to serving as a state senator and U.S. senator. It was always about clambering his way to the top, without gaining any of the experience that would actually qualify him to lead.

Lest we forget, this is the same brilliant POTUS that doesn’t roll into the Oval Office until 9:30 or 10:00 every morning (Bush was always at his desk by 7 am), and will gladly shift the focus of conversation to sports, no matter what's on the table.

All the more reason to send him packing in November, so he has plenty of time on his hands, to play golf, given speeches or even get Bill Ayers to write more books for him. Lazy doesn't begin to describe Obama, and if he loses this fall, you'll see a spate of books confirming his habits.

Obama is the ultimate affirmative action hire, who has ridden that train to the highest office in the land. His own record of “achievement” is virtually nonexistent, one reason he's spent so much time and money to keep his college records sealed.

18 posted on 09/12/2012 8:31:59 AM PDT by ExNewsExSpook
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To: generally
There are a lot of adjuncts who do a fine job for colleges--sometimes they have an expertise that no one on the faculty has and offer an evening course in the subject, or teach a rare language for which there is insufficient interest (or funding) to have a full-time person teaching. Many adjuncts have full-time jobs doing something else.

Even with affirmative action hiring of minorities, they are usually expected to meet the same requirements for getting tenure as non-minorities are...but I don't know if law schools act the same way.

Maybe if Obama is defeated a major law school will offer him its presidency.

19 posted on 09/12/2012 8:35:40 AM PDT by Verginius Rufus
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To: stephenjohnbanker

He was a lowly “instructor” which is equivalent to a student teacher.

* * *

Not quite accurate, at least at most institutions. A lecturer is an adequately credentialed teacher who is usually hired on a year-to-year or semester-to-semester basis. A lecturer is not the same thing as a student teacher (which is REALLY the lowest rung on the academic ladder), who is usually a PhD candidate. The position of lecturer is usually not considered a permanent position, and is not a tenure-track position at all. The lecturer usually already has a PhD or Master’s degree, and is considered “above” a student teacher in the pecking order, but far below a professor or assistant professor.


20 posted on 09/12/2012 8:43:06 AM PDT by Hetty_Fauxvert ( "Be Breitbart, baby!")
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