Can Chapman rid itself of John Eastman’s legacy?

By Jack Sundblad

It’s surreal for most of the nation to believe that a lawyer turned college professor was responsible for helping plan and justify a coup d’etat against his own country.

It’s even more surreal to learn that lawyer was a longtime Chapman University professor and once the dean of its law school. John Eastman. Whose bizarre, extremist legal opinions have made him one of the most loathed lawyers in the country.

This was the case for creative writing professor Tom Zoellner, who joined those publicly complaining about Eastman’s ties to Chapman.

“This is not the way you want people finding out about Chapman University,” said Zoellner. He not ed that even after the Chapman faculty had com plained about Eastman, the former dean went on to be connected with what Zoellner calls “darkest day in modern American history” — the nation’s Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, court agrees, a final decision would be made by the California State Supreme Court.

The bar outlined 11 disciplinary charges filed against Eastman, stating that he “assisted then-President Trump in executing a strategy, unsupported by facts or law, to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election.”

Bar chief trial counsel George Cordona accused Eastman of “making false and misleading statements that constitute acts of moral turpitude, dishonesty and corruption.”

Cordona added that the Capitol incident was “an egregious and unprecedented attack on our democracy, for which he (Eastman) must be held accountable.”

Eastman lawyers responded that the Bar’s actions were “politically motivated”, and violated his free speech rights. But even if Eastman’s efforts were wrong, his lawyer said they did not rise to the

Now, two years after that fateful day, Eastman is now the subject of even worse than the wrath from his own peers. He now faces disbarment for his legal counsel of former President Donald Trump in the days leading up to the insur

The California State Bar announced it’s intention to disbar Eastman in a press release three months ago. That challenge now goes to an indepen dent State Bar court. And if that

Mario Mainero, a Chapman law professor, points out that attorneys cannot rely solely on free speech rights: “Deceitful conduct in the course of a presidential campaign is within the Business and Professions

Like many Chapman professors, Mainero was reluctant to give out his opinion since the action is pending in court. But he did say that the state bar would likely rule out frivolous arguments and concentrate not make “arguments that are without good

Eastman faces even more legal challenges.

The House January 6th Committee, in its final report, recommended criminal action against Eastman be pursued by the U.S. Attorney General’s office.

Under pressure from the university, Eastman resigned as a Chapman professor shortly after the Capitol riot. But his name in the news still concerns many Chapman faculty and students that he’s leaving a stain on their school.

Chapman president Daniele Struppa said the university’s own code prevented him from firing Eastman. But he made his views clear:

“Eastman’s actions are in direct opposition to the values and beliefs of our institution. He has now put Chapman in the position of being publicly disparaged.”

The Los Angeles Times raised that very issue with a headline that stated the Eastman name “still haunts” the university.

Disbarment might help, some believe.

“Having him disbarred just shows his complete lack of credibility,” said Emilie Haskell, a double major in political science and broadcast journalism and documentary. “He won’t be able to teach again. He won’t be able to have that status of being a lawyer that gave him the credibility to be a part of the obstruction in the first place.”

Eastman joined the Chapman faculty in 1999 and was dean of the law school from 2007 to 2010. He left that role for an unsuccessful bid for public office, but remained on the Chapman faculty until the Capitol insurrection. At that time, he also ended his position as a visiting scholar at the University of Colorado Boulder. But he remains a faculty member at the Claremont Institute, a non-profit conservative think-tank he helped found, with no association with the Claremont Colleges.

But leaving Chapman doesn’t end it all. For some, the stain is lasting.

Sam Andrus, a senior political science major, had filed his own complaint against Eastman with the State Bar. Though it was eventually dismissed, he remains critical.

“As someone who goes to Chapman, and is thinking about applying to law schools while having Chapman on my transcript, on my resume, it was beyond the treasonous aspect and the shame to go to the same school as this person,” said Andrus.

He added:

“It was offensive to me personally because I knew that it would reflect badly on me if the institution of Chapman itself and California is withholding taking action to reprimand this person for this horrible act.”

The Chapman faculty was angered that two years earlier, Eastman had written in a national magazine a challenge to Kamala Harris’ citizenship – and right to run for national office — even though she was born in Oakland, CA., but with immigrant parents.

The faculty, Zoellner included, published a letter to the editor in the Los Angeles Times calling for action against Eastman by the university.

“We weren’t necessarily calling for John Eastman to be fired. But that action had to be taken on the university’s part,” explained Zoellner. “My decision to do so was on patriotic grounds.”

While Chapman president Daniele Struppa sympathized with their position, he said his hands were tied: Eastman had not been convicted of any crime, and had free speech rights. He was sorry that many of the faculty disagreed with him but “that is the price of democracy.”

When Eastman wrote his own letter of retirement, he praised Struppa for being cooperative during the fallout. But he attacked both the faculty and some of the members of the Board of Trustees.

He meant Wylie Aitken, who was president of the Chapman board at the time, of the Kamala Harris controversy.

Aitken, a lawyer himself, wrote then that “One would think a real scholar would know better.” Aitken also worried what Eastman’s reputation would do to harm Chapman:

“One has to question Eastman’s loyalty to his school. . . putting in jeopardy Chapman’s dramatic rise in the national rankings.

But the debate continues.

Jessica Lopez, a senior political science major, thinks that Eastman’s involvement with Chapman could have an effect on prospective students.

“There’s also the other end of ‘oh, is Chapman really a university I want to go to because of the ties of a situation like Eastman?’” Lopez said, imagining what others may be thinking.

And Andrus points out:

“Obviously, the more he is in the news, the more people are going to associate him with the law school.”

But does this mean that discussion of Eastman and his legacy should stop?

Some think that continued discourse would only hurt the university more in the long run. After all, Eastman himself never responded and many Chapman law professors declined to be quoted in this article.

“One of the most consequential collisions of constitutional law and an attempt to overthrow the constitution came out of our law school,” said Zoellner, encouraging people to look at the reality of the situation. “But you want to sort of say ‘oh, let’s move on!’ I fundamentally don’t agree with that.”