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UA Little Rock law dean says White House approval found; professor says it had been withdrawn — committee reviews FOIA records
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,” Biner said.
Professor Robert Steinbach, who had raised concerns and helped prompt a FOIA request, told the committee the record is more complicated. He produced documents from the FOIA release showing both an apparent White House approval and a contemporaneous law‑school memo stating the White House later asked the school not to use the name. Steinbach said that, in his view, the earlier withdrawal had been known inside the law school and that the title was used without authority.
Steinbach urged the legislature to exercise oversight, saying the naming "may have significant consequences for the law school in terms of our mission and reputation." He read into the record a 1999 internal memo and FOIA materials and offered committee members copies of the records.
Dean Biner acknowledged gaps in the law‑school files and said the university only assembled the complete record after the FOIA request and campus‑system review. She told the committee the endowment remains active and, accounting for the recent review, the chancellor decided the position should be titled the "professor in constitutional law." Biner said the selection process for the current holder followed law‑school policies and that she had explained to faculty the appointment decisions.
Committee members pressed both sides about the timing of discoveries, whether the former holder knew about the withdrawal memo, and whether the decision was political. The university said it will keep records in line with FOIA and personnel‑record rules and that some evaluative documents may be protected from disclosure.
The committee did not adopt any formal corrective action; members thanked participants for appearing and suggested university officials reconcile internal recordkeeping to avoid similar disputes in the future.
