More on Hastings

A letter to the editor in today's NY Times:

“School Faces Founder’s Role in Native Killings” (front page, Oct. 28) shines a light on a dark and disturbing chapter of California history — one linked inescapably to the law school I lead.

Serranus Hastings, founder of the University of California Hastings College of the Law, perpetrated genocidal acts against Native Californians in the 1850s. The history of his crimes, and its lasting legacy, are subjects worthy of examination.

One of my first acts as chancellor and dean in 2017 was to commission a study of Serranus Hastings’s deadly campaigns against Native Californians and to create a committee to recommend restorative justice initiatives. 

Since then, we have collaborated extensively with members of the pertinent tribes, including the Yuki.

I am not leading a “campaign to keep the school’s name.” Although my initial recommendation to the Hastings board of directors was to focus on restorative justice initiatives with the affected tribes, and not a name change, I always understood that this issue was part of the robust process I initiated. In that process, all options for restorative justice are on the table, including the name.

David L. Faigman

San Francisco

See also Critical Race Theory and US history and UC Hastings leaders move to change name linked to Native American massacres, and History: A nightmare from which we never awake.