Belmont University College of Law made a bold move and hired former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, a controversial political figure who OK’ed waterboarding tactics while he was counsel to President George W. Bush.
He will be the only former chief law enforcement officer of the U.S. on a law school’s full-time faculty when he starts teaching at the new Nashville institution in January, noted Belmont.
The hiring news has sparked headlines across the U.S. because Gonzales is known to many as the man who wrote the 2002 memo that gave blessing to the CIA’s use of such “enhanced interrogation” techniques as waterboarding. Others know him as the Attorney General who resigned in 2007 amid allegations the Bush Administration fired several U.S. attorneys for political reasons. The Department of Justice closed its investigations last summer without filing any charges.
The school could use the publicity, however, since its doors opened for the first time this fall and the school has yet to receive accreditation or erect a permanent law school building.
“While holding one of the highest offices in the nation, it’s to be expected that Judge Gonzales would be the subject of some controversy,” said Thomas Burns, provost at Belmont University, in an e-mailed statement to National Jurist. “However, he is also the subject of countless awards and commendations as both an attorney and public servant.”
The school, which sits in an area of the state that hasn’t seen a new law school in more than a century, will enroll 350 students at full capacity and is expected to finish the Randall and Sadie Baskin Center — a 71,000-square-foot building sketched on its website — next summer.
His professor role will carry the title of the Doyle Rogers Distinguished Chair of Law, made possible by the powerhouse attorney at Alley, Maass, Rogers & Lindsay PA in Palm Beach, Fla.
After serving as counsel to the president from 2001 to 2005, he served as the eightieth Attorney General of the U.S. until 2007. His resume also includes partner at Vinson & Elkins in Houston and Justice on the Supreme Court of Texas and Secretary of State in Texas.
“He brings an unmatched wealth of experience and knowledge to Belmont’s College of Law and our students, and we are proud to have him join our faculty,” Burns said.
