Bernardine Dohrn, the Law School faculty member and former leader of a violent Vietnam War protest group, has called the decision of six alumni to pull donations from Northwestern because of her employment an unnecessary “witch-hunt.”
“I know it is Halloween, but a witch-hunt is a dangerous thing and it is not in order,” said Dohrn, an associate professor in the Law School. “If there had been no September 11, this would all be laughable.”
NU administrators said no additional alumni retracted their pledges on Wednesday.
Ronald Vanden Dorpel, NU’s vice president for development, said Tuesday’s withdrawn donations amounted to $1,350, for a total of $2,350 in donations that have been withdrawn. NU alumni gave $67.5 million last year, he said.
“I don’t like to lose any gift,” Vanden Dorpel said. “We hope the donors understand they are supporting a variety of good things with their contributions. None of their dollars are going solely to support Dohrn’s work, even if the alums agree with her.”
The first withdrawn donation, a $1,000 check taken back by Sean O’Shea, Law ’81, was counterbalanced Tuesday when a trustee who supports Dohrn increased his contribution to NU by $1,000, said Tim Case, NU’s executive director of annual giving.
“The trustee read (Law School) Dean (David) Van Zandt’s statement and was so pleased that he said he would take it upon himself to cover the loss,” Case said. “We often run into these bumps in the road, with people disagreeing about something someone has done. We do the best we can to make up for them and we have a number of people supporting the university in this matter.”
Dohrn, who has served as director of the Law School’s Family and Justice Center since its inception 10 years ago, was the subject of a Wall Street Journal editorial on Monday comparing the Weathermen’s actions to those of the Sept. 11 terrorists. Although five alumni called NU’s Office of Annual Giving to withdraw their donations after reading the piece, Law School administrators have steadfastly supported Dohrn.
Law Prof. Thomas Geraghty, who directs the Bluhm Legal Clinic at the Law School, dismissed the editorial as an attempt to sensationalize Dohrn’s past.
“If you stepped back and looked at what she has done in last 10 years and tried to keep in mind that people’s views change, you would come to an entirely different conclusion about her than what people are saying,” Geraghty said.
He said Dohrn has brought attention to the necessity of training judges and lawyers in child law.
Geraghty added that she has focused attention on the need to resolve disputes between children and communities, and to represent children seeking asylum in the United States.
Dohrn said the center’s accomplishments should be more important than her past.
“Any alum who actually researches the efforts we’ve made in the law system for children would probably increase their contribution to the school,” she said. “I love the work we do at Northwestern. It has been a wonderful home for me.”
