In Wake of Law School Dean’s Ousting, What Next?

1. former ut law school employee says:

   January 1, 2012 at 6:44 am

   This news comes as a shock, but it’s certainly not surprising. In my function at the Law School I was privy to details of how both state funds and foundation funds were disbursed and it was apparent from dealing with salary documents that female professors were regularly offered lower salaries as a matter of practice.
   What is not mentioned is that the most glaring example of gender inequity at the Law School occured among the administrative staff. During his brief and pitiful time as Dean, Larry Sager encouraged and put in place a system of de facto economic and professional apartheid between professors and administrative staff. It should be noted that the administrative staff is largely comprised of females, while the professors are predominantly male. During times of supposed “austerity” at the Law School, Dean Sager eliminated the relatively small but much needed $200 holiday bonuses that long-time staff received to buy necessities such as toys and food for their children. He also spent less than $200 for food and refreshments for over 100 staff for the annual holiday party, a function that had traditionally served as an opportunity to thank the administrative staff for another long year of hard work and give a general state of the Law School address. Not only that, he made his secretary purchase the refreshments out of their own pocket and get reimbursed roughly a month later.
   While the administrative staff were asked to work two or three separate jobs in some instances in the same amount of time due to the hiring freeze and austerity measures, without increased pay and merit-based raises or cost of living salary increases, Larry Sager was “loaning” himself $500,000.00 The cost of his modernist, Italian-import office renovation alone cost $750,000.00. Considering that President Powers occupied that same office before him, one can be certain it was already very nicely furnished and appointed without the three quarters of a million dollars worth of glass and marble furnishings, calf-skin chairs and original works of art Larry Sager lavished on it.
   The renovation was of course managed by his wife, Jane Cohen, who also used UT Law funds generously for her own personal benefit.She is in the top ten of best compensated UT Law professors and yet still had her hand so deep in the pork barrel that she went as far as using the University’s Fedex and UPS accounts for her own personal business. Basically these two nickel and dimed UT for every cent they could get.
   The list goes on and on. It’s dismal what Larry Sager thought passed for leadership. He will not be missed. Greedy, classless elitists like him are not good enough for Texas.

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