Tuesday, October 09, 2018

What do you reckon? Shall I reapply for UF Environmental Law and Land Use Planning Master of Laws Program?

10/12/2018 UPDATE: UF is closing its program. Just learned today, after not finding application on LSAC or UF website, despite listing 10/15/application deadline.

Looks like "massive resistance" to me. Reminds me of Prince William County, Virginia closing its schools for five years in response to desegregation orders. Anticipating legal remedies to my Department of Education Office for Civil Rights complaint of age, disability and retaliation discrimination, UF shut down its successful environmental and land use planning law LL.M. program.

Application was not on Law School Admissions Council (LSAC) or UF sites, despite UF listing 10/15 deadline. Dean Laura Rosenbury wrote me in response to several e-mails.

-----Original Message-----
From: Rosenbury,Laura Ann
To: Ed Slavin
Cc: Ankersen,Thomas T ; llemenviro ; Mills,Jon L ; Angelo,Mary Jane ; Flournoy,Alyson Craig ; Hamann,Richard G ; judgelitt10 ; Lomberk,Jennifer L ; bcc5hdean ; Little,Joseph W ; Keener,Grant
Sent: Fri, Oct 12, 2018 12:43 pm
Subject: Re: University of Florida Environmental and Land Use Planning Law (ELUPL) LL.M. Application

We are no longer accepting applications for the LLM in Environmental and Land Use Planning Law. The LLM degree will cease to be offered as soon as all existing students graduate.

Laura Ann Rosenbury
Dean, UF Levin College of Law

I responded:

Dear Dean Rosenbury:
1. Why did UF decide to shut down its Environmental and Land Use Planning Law (ELUPL) LL.M. program?
2. UF's web page indicated this week that the ELUPL LL.M. deadline for applications is on October 15, 2018 for the January 2019 term. See attached download.
3. UF's inexplicable decision to end its ELUPL LL.M. program has NO effect on my available civil and equitable remedies pursuant to my pending 2014 Department of Education Office for Civil Rights complaint.
4. I look forward to meeting you, and to talking with you, to discuss legal education at UF.
5. Please call me today.
Thank you.
With kindest regards, I am,
Sincerely yours,
Ed Slavin
904-377-4998

Original post:




May I please have your thoughts on an urgent environmental education issue personal to me? There's an October 15, 2018 deadline for me to reapply to University of Florida Environmental Law and Land Use Planning Master of Laws LL.M. program, starting January 2019. Should I reapply?

Why this matters: I want to help our Nation's Oldest City cope with global warming and ocean level rise -- with teaching, advocacy and reporting. I want to help preserve our history and nature in St. Augustine, Florida (founded 1565). Yes, I want to help persuade Congress to enact a St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore (first proposed by Mayor Walter Fraser and Senator Claude Pepper, et al. in 1939).

During 2010-2014, the University of Florida Levin College of Law REJECTED my LL.M. application five (5) times.

From 2010-2014, I filed some 54 letters of recommendation.

UF NEVER gave me a reason for five (5) rejection letters, 2010-2014. UF ignored my requests to meet with me to discuss how I might improve my application. [Three (3) of UF's five (5) rejection letters oddly misspelled the word "land" as "lane."]

In July 2014, I filed an age, disability and retaliation complaint with the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights.

An experienced Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service mediator drove from Orlando to St. Augustine on August 25, 2014. UF's Asst. Dean and lawyer REFUSED to drive from Gainesville and attend our mediation in-person. UF "phoned it in" for five (5) hours by conference call with FMCS mediator and me (meeting in the conference room at the City of St. Augustine's Financial Services Building, on Bridge Street, then flooded due to increasing St. Augustine street flooding).

UF did NOT negotiate in good faith with FMCS and me.

Strong prima facie case of age and disability discrimination and retaliation for protected activity. Key facts include:

o UF did NOT deny its never admitting ELUPL students over 40.

o UF did NOT deny its hostility to my asking for possible reasonable accommodation under ADA after successful retina reattachment eye surgery at UF in 2010. By phone, UF Asst. Dean told me the UF ELUPL program MUST be completed in one year, and that if I needed more time, I should apply to FSU, in distant Tallahassee. (I have arthritis and do not drive.)

o UF did NOT deny its animus to my EEO and First and Ninth Amendment protected activity to file complaints and grievances about UF Levin College of Law's age and disability discrimination and its flawed admission process.

o UF did NOT deny that its LL.M. admissions committee NEVER met and did NOT have a proper UF charter.

After our unsuccessful 2014 FMCS mediation, I voluntarily waived OCR's 90 day time investigation limit. Why?

I sua sponte waived 90 day time limit due to the hundreds of college campus rape-related cases pending before DoEd. I told our DoEd OCR investigator to complete the college student women's campus rape victims' cases FIRST.

I was willing to wait.

(Footnote: I moved to St. Augustine in 1999. I was suspended/disbarred in Tennessee in 2004/2006 after criticizing unfairness of USDOL and federal agencies, contractors and judges in whistleblower and other worker rights cases. Interesting facts: 1. UF's Hawkins Legal Clinic is named for an African-American disbarred lawyer. 2. UF NEVER gave my disbarment as a reason for my rejection -- if that WERE a factor, UF was required under UF's own rules to tell me and to give me notice and an opportunity to respond.)

UF has replaced its General Counsel and has a new Law Dean.

Shall I reapply by 10/15 deadline for UF ELUPL LLM program?
(This would be the sixth time).

Or shall I wait for the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights to decide my case?

Failure is not an option. It's our time, our town and our planet.

Any suggestions?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Maybe it is your unserved jail sentence?

Unknown said...

Ed Slavin, I'm so proud of you for continuing your fight. Continue the good fight. Current safety issues, regarding women, has caused setback in my retuning back to St. Augustine at this time. My continued work in the preservation of African American history & culture. I seek also your support in stopping violence everywhere. Please let me know the status of your park. I'd really love to share some thoughts with you, please feel free to reach out to me at your convenience.

Tom Reynolds said...

yes mr s