Stanford Law DEI figure on leave after remarks at event where protesters disrupted a judge's speech

Stanford Law School associate dean for diversity, equity, and inclusion Tirien Steinbach is on leave, according to Dean Jenny Martinez.

Earlier this month, when protestors disrupted an event featuring Judge Kyle Duncan, Steinbach claimed that the judge has "caused harm" through his work.

"First, Associate Dean Tirien Steinbach is currently on leave. Generally speaking, the university does not comment publicly on pending personnel matters, and so I will not do so at this time," Martinez noted in a lengthy memo to the Stanford Law School community.

"I do want to express concern over the hateful and threatening messages she has received as a result of viral online and media attention and reiterate that actionable threats that come to our attention will be investigated and addressed as the law permits. Finally, it should be obvious from what I have stated above that at future events, the role of any administrators present will be to ensure that university rules on disruption of events will be followed, and all staff will receive additional training in that regard," Martinez wrote.

Video footage from the event shows Steinbach delivering remarks after the event had apparently been disrupted by protesters. During her remarks, while Steinbach suggested that Duncan should be permitted to speak, she also claimed that for many of the individuals at the event the judge's work has "caused harm." She also asked, "Is the juice worth the squeeze?" questioning whether the man's speech was worth the "pain" and "division."

Martinez and Stanford University President Marc Tessier-Lavigne issued an apology to Duncan earlier this month.

"The President of the University and I have apologized to Judge Duncan for a very simple reason – to acknowledge that his speech was disrupted in ways that undermined his ability to deliver the remarks he wanted to give to audience members who wanted to hear them, as a result of the failure to ensure that the university's disruption policies were followed," Martinez wrote in the new memo.

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