When Pepperdine appointed Kenneth Starr as dean of its School of Law in 2004 the former special prosecutor and judge was nationally known and widely criticized for leading the investigations into the Whitewater and Monica Lewinsky scandals. The School of Law meanwhile was ranked 99th in the nation and was little noticed outside of California.
Monday when Baylor University announced that Starr would become president of the Baptist-affiliated university in Waco Texas most national coverage of the dean’s departure still identified Starr as the man who nearly brought down President Clinton. Next in the formula came his affiliation with Pepperdine followed by several of the prominent— and controversial— cases Starr has argued during his storied career.
But after five and a half years with Starr as its leader the School of Law has risen to 55th in the widely cited U.S. News & World Report ranking system and attracted a growing number of influential speakers and professors. The result say professors and administrators has been a dramatic increase in the caliber of students teaching and worldwide influence.
As faculty and students assess Starr’s legacy and consider what to do after he leaves June 1 they say the next dean will inherit a much different school.
“I certainly think the school has better students and very much enlarged ambitions and students and ambitions are what … propel a law school Professor Ed Larson said. Larson was on the search committee’s shortlist in 2004, until he advised them to choose Starr instead. The question now is has Dean Starr moved this school so far that people of [the highest] caliber would catch that vision?”
Students say the question was framed differently Sunday night as rumors raced across the Internet and law library that Starr would become Baylor’s 14th president: What’s going on?
“I was worried about how students would react to it said second-year law student Kimberly McCall, president of the Christian Legal Society at Pepperdine. It was the unknown and honestly the feeling that we didn’t hear it from the school.”
McCall said she understood the university’s hands were tied however.
Pepperdine administrators said they learned about Starr’s selection when the Baylor selection committee voted Friday although conversations with the committee and Starr in early February warned them of the possible decision. The two universities agreed to simultaneously deliver the news at 4:30 p.m. Monday Pacific Standard Time.
But an anonymous person close to the search leaked the news Sunday night prompting publications including the Graphic to report that Starr would probably leave Pepperdine. Many students read the news online or heard about it from friends.
Associate Dean Jim Gash said he was disappointed that Pepperdine was unable to deliver the news first.
“This is an announcement about our family and our view was that the announcement should come from us he said.
President Andrew K. Benton announced the decision to faculty at 9 a.m. Monday and to staff half an hour later. Gash sent an e-mail to all students at 10 a.m. asking them to “refrain from forwarding this information to others outside of our family” until Baylor’s official news conference at noon.
Many students said the university’s reaction served as confirmation and as comfort.
“People were talking about it in my classes this morning first-year law student Eliana Ramirez said Monday at a meeting hosted by Gash, Associate Dean Carol Chase and Vice Dean Tim Perrin. It was really shocking because I know many people who chose Pepperdine because of its high-profile dean. That wasn’t why I came but I was still surprised. But I accept it.”
Gash said Starr has been very successful in increasing the number of well-known guests on campus as well as fundraising and other contributions based on his interpersonal skills. But he said that would be unlikely to change because once Starr introduced those people to Pepperdine they became committed to the institution.
Benton who since becoming president in 2000 has appointed a new dean at each of Pepperdine’s five schools except the School of Public Policy said he would be sad to say goodbye to Starr and his wife Alice.
Benton joked that Starr was one of many university leaders stolen from Pepperdine after learning skills such as fundraising management and serving as an academic leader. But he said he also learned lessons from Starr.
“I’ve learned that there’s good star power and there’s bad star power he said. There are stars— one ‘r’— who require a lot of attention. And then there are Starrs— capital ‘s’ two ‘r’s’— who bring a lot of energy and great things to the job.”
Those familiar with Baylor say Starr’s reputation as an energetic and charismatic leader will be needed at a school that fired its last president in 2008 and has had icy relationships with other recent presidents.
“I had a wonderful time at Baylor as a student but unfortunately since my time there in the 1980s every Baylor president has had to fight major internecine battles during his tenure School of Law Professor Roger Alford wrote in an e-mail. Ken Starr is a gifted and able leader and it will require all of his vast talents to avoid the struggles of past Baylor presidents.”
Lori Fogleman director of media communications at Baylor declined to comment on those challenges but noted that a committee representing broad interests chose Starr unanimously.
“Across the board his credentials are impeccable; and moreover in the brief time we were able to spend with Judge Starr we found him to be a warm and gentle and collegial person she said. [Pepperdine and Baylor] have a lot in common and I think Judge Starr will be an amazing addition.”
Baylor as the nation’s largest Baptist university presents a new faith environment for Starr who was raised in the Church of Christ.
“Judge Starr is familiar with Baylor’s faith tradition and he offered to join a Baptist church if he accepted the position Fogleman said.
Most undergraduate students said they had mixed feelings about the loss of the popular but polarizing dean.
“Ken Starr has done a very good job bringing a lot of distinguished conservative legal scholars to Pepperdine and that will be missed senior Emerson Siegle said. I personally wish him and Alice the best as they move to the next stage in their life. [However] if Ken Starr leaving means Pepperdine is going to take a step away from its conservative tendencies and toward being open to a broader range of voices that’s a good thing.”
Starr’s recent cases include a March 2009 case defending the legality of Proposition 8 by which California voters defined marriage as between a man and a woman. Before coming to Pepperdine he was the then-youngest member ever appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals argued 25 cases before the Supreme C
ourt as solicitor general and represented a variety of other high-profile cases.
One decision before the selection committee according to Larson will be whether to choose another high-profile judge or one who will be more involved in day-to-day operations than Starr was. Larson said he was not interested in the position but had several preliminary suggestions.
The committee members have not been chosen but Benton said a new dean would probably be in place by summer of 2011. An interim dean most likely from within Pepperdine will lead the school until then.
Starr who flew to Waco for ceremonies there was not available to comment.