Oliver Cheng
Volume 75, Issue 6, 1741-1794
The University of California, Hastings College of the Law, changed its name to the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, after it found that its namesake, Serranus Hastings, contributed significantly to the eradication of Native Americans in the Round Valley and Eden Valley. After deciding to pursue restorative justice initiatives while retaining Hastings as its namesake, the College faced extensive backlash from national press, major donors, and its stakeholders. In response, the College removed its namesake and renamed itself the University of California, College of the Law, San Francisco, or “UC Law SF” for short.
The College has been criticized by many for its lack of stakeholder engagement throughout the renaming process, as well as its new name. However, it has been a longstanding practice for the College to act without adequate stakeholder engagement, with the corollary downsides of the practice only becoming widely apparent during its renaming. The foremost regret lies not in the divestment of its stakeholders but rather the foregone opportunity to examine the College’s governance structure. This Note conducts an overview of the internal and external procedures of the renaming process, studies the origins of the College’s governance structure as an independently governed affiliate of the University of California, and highlights the upsides of becoming a true campus of the University of California.