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UA Little Rock law dean says White House approval found; professor says it had been withdrawn — committee reviews FOIA records

STATE AGENCIES & GOVT'L AFFAIRS-SENATE · August 19, 2021
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Summary

Dean Terri Biner told the committee she found a 1999 White House letter approving a Bill Clinton‑named professorship; Professor Robert Steinbach and FOIA documents indicate the White House later withdrew permission. The university says the endowment remains and the position will be titled 'professor in constitutional law.'

The Senate State Agencies & Governmental Affairs Committee examined a dispute over the naming of an endowed professorship at the University of Arkansas Little Rock Bowen School of Law after faculty questions and a public records request.

Dean Terri Biner said law‑school files included a 1999 White House letter approving use of President Bill Clinton’s name for a distinguished professorship. After locating that documentation she told the then‑holder, John DePiper, he could use the Clinton name. “There was a letter from the White House approving our use of this, of President Clinton’s name,”…

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