According to the Daily Californian:
In attempt to offset the state's $24 billion deficit, the governor proposed last week to eliminate all state funding for the UC Hastings College of Law, an action that could jeopardize the trust that established it 131 years ago and put the college at further financial risk.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed to eliminate the $10.3 million the state gives directly to the San Francisco college, which makes up about 20 percent of its total operating budget.
When the college was first established in 1878 by a $100,000 trust from California's first chief justice Serranus Clinton Hastings, it included a provision that requires the state to fund at least 7 percent of the college's operations, said Leo Martinez, a law professor at Hastings and soon-to-be acting chancellor and dean of the college.
If the governor's proposed elimination of funding is found to violate that provision, the trust plus the interest it has accrued since it was first established could revert back to the Hastings family, Martinez said.
The college is considered part of the UC system but is funded separately from and is not under the control of the UC Board of Regents.
In a broader sense, there is no news here. The entire system of UC law schools is quickly moving towards market pricing. It remains to be seen how this phenomenon will affect the diversity and quality of these law schools over the long haul.
Dean Filler,
I need to ask what prompts you to say that "UC law schools are moving toward market pricing?" Not that you're wrong, but that's an assertion I've never heard. Can you give me a lead on that?
Here's some evidence for the UC schools moving towards market pricing:
http://leiterlawschool.typepad.com/leiter/2009/05/the-state-of-california-has-essentially-stopped-subsidizing-legal-education.html
I'm not sure if that's what Dan had in mind or not, but it certainly seems to indicate it.
I'm confused: the state gives $10 million (per year?) to Hastings and that represents 20% of its budget. So Hastings' budget is on the order of $50 million (per year). That sounds high to me, unless there's some strange accounting related to building cost or perhaps scholarships.
Hi Alfred,
The report was probably mistaken. According to Hastings CFO, David Seward, the $10.3m state funding is roughly 25% of Hastings budget. That means Hastings is running at about $41 million budget per year, which is still relatively high. May be it's important to keep in mind that UC Hastings is one of the largest law school in the West with 1L population of 400 students approximately.
In another report, the governor did propose to leave the school $7,000 in public funding which is the minimum amount required by the bequest of founder, S.C. Hastings. This effectively removes the issue of violating the trust's provision.
The news put mostly of us, Hastings students, into great distress.
Hastings College is a private trust based upon $100,000 in gold coin deposited with the State Controller. The problem is that no one knows who has that $100,000 today. This defect was discovered in 1989. It is 20 years since then and no progress has been made. The 7% or $7000 is the stipulated rate of return on the $100,000. It has not been accumulating since then as suggested. It has been paid by separate appropriation until about 1959. If the $7000 is not paid the trust is busted. But since the res (or body) of the trust is missing, the trust is in fact busted.
Gary Michael Coutin, '72