CUNY Law School Dean Steps Down After Calling Herself a ‘Slaveholder’

Mary Lu Bilek, dean of CUNY School of Law announced she would step down after referring to herself as a “slaveholder” during a faculty meeting discussing a personnel policy some feared would create “disparate racial impact.” The 65-year-old had announced her retirement effective June, but in a note to faculty on Saturday, she revealed the reason for her departure. “In a misguided effort to draw an analogy to a model of reparations in order to place blame on myself, as Dean, for racial inequities at our school, I thoughtlessly referred to myself as the ‘slaveholder’ who should be held responsible,” Bilek wrote. “I realized it was wrong the minute I heard myself say it and couldn’t believe the word had come out of my mouth.” Bilek said she apologized after she said it but that she would retire due to the “work it would take to repair the trust necessary to lead the Law School is a burden I don’t want to impose on the faculty or the community.”