Robinson Retires as UC general counsel

From UCNet: 

UC Board of Regents Chair Maria Anguiano and UC President James B. Milliken made the following announcement last week:

Dear Colleagues,

We write to share that Charles F. “Charlie” Robinson, general counsel and senior vice president, Legal Affairs, has announced his plans to retire in June 2027, after 20 years as the University of California’s chief legal officer.

Charlie joined UC as the general counsel in January 2007, and in the two decades since, he has built and led one of the most respected legal departments in higher education — a team of more than 165 attorneys spanning our 10 campuses, six medical centers, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. As the university’s chief legal officer with responsibility for all of the institution’s legal matters, Charlie has provided counsel to the Board of Regents, five university presidents, and countless chancellors and other university leaders, guiding the institution through an extraordinary range of legal and institutional challenges...

Full release at https://ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu/employee-news/charles-f-robinson-to-retire-as-general-counsel-and-senior-vice-president-legal-affairs/.

Straws in the Wind - Part 441

From the Daily Princetonian: A federal appeals court ruled that a Title IX lawsuit brought by a male undergraduate student who was suspended in 2023 after being found responsible for choking two female students can move forward. The ruling, decided on July 21, reversed the New Jersey district court’s decision dismissing the lawsuit in its entirety. The ruling allows the male student to continue pursuing his Title IX lawsuit against the University. At issue is whether or not sex motivated the University’s decision to suspend the male student.

At the center of the case are claims from two female students, identified in court documents as “Sarah Smith” and “Jane Roe.” They filed separate complaints against the male student, “John Doe,” alleging that he choked them in arguments at or on the way to campus parties during the spring of 2023. The following fall, Doe, a sophomore at the time, was investigated for the two incidents after Smith and Roe separately submitted reports to the University. According to court documents, the Faculty-Student Committee on Discipline found Doe responsible for assaulting Smith and Roe. Doe was also found in violation of the University’s Alcohol Policy by allegedly hosting and serving alcohol to underage individuals. 

Doe was suspended for two years on grounds that he violated the University’s Personal Safety Policy, which bans “any physical assault committed … on the premises of the University or in the local vicinity, especially when unprovoked and/or when injury results.” Doe filed a lawsuit against the University for breach of contract, Title IX violations, and negligence in June 2024, which was later dismissed by the New Jersey district court for failing to state a claim.

In a ruling released this July, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reversed the dismissal unanimously and sent the case back to the district court for further evidence-gathering and trial. The appeals court found that Doe’s allegations about the University’s handling of the investigation were sufficient to allow his Title IX claim to proceed. Doe alleged that both Smith and Roe’s stories had “evolved” over the course of Princeton’s internal investigation and an “inconsistent manner of seeking out evidence.” Universities including Princeton have “struggled to find the proper balance” between protecting victims and ensuring that respondents receive fairness, Circuit Judge Cheryl Ann Krause wrote in the ruling...

Full story at https://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2026/08/princeton-news-titleix-lawsuit-suspended-male-student-appeals-court.

Another traffic mess on the 405 through the Sepulveda Pass this weekend

Another traffic mess on the 405 through the Sepulveda Pass this weekend. From Patch:

Traffic will be impacted on the 405 Freeway and nearby roads beginning Friday when construction will shut down several lanes and ramps of the interstate in the San Fernando Valley for the entire weekend.

Here's a look at the closures, planned for 10 p.m. Friday, Aug. 21 through 5 a.m. Monday, Aug. 24:

• The southbound 405 will be reduced to three lanes between Ventura Boulevard and Mulholland Drive
• The Ventura Boulevard on-ramp to the southbound 405 will be closed
• The northbound 405 off-ramp to Getty Center Drive will be closed

Source: https://patch.com/california/santamonica/s/kn4f0/405-freeway-closures-to-snarl-traffic-in-la-county-beginning-friday.

Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 189 (parts unknown edition)

From the Harvard Crimson: Harvard agreed [last] Monday to a $53 million settlement to resolve civil lawsuits accusing the school of negligence in its handling of donated human remains. The lawsuits stem from the conduct of Cedric Lodge, a former HMS morgue manager who was sentenced to eight years in prison in December for unlawfully transporting stolen human remains. Federal prosecutors said that between 2018 and August 2022, Lodge took organs, brains, faces, and other body parts from donated cadavers after they had been used for teaching and research but before they could be disposed of. He brought the remains to his New Hampshire home and sold them to buyers in several states, including Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. Six co-conspirators who purchased remains from Lodge have since pleaded guilty and been sentenced.

As part of the settlement, HMS will make a statement to claimant families via a live webinar affirming that Lodge’s conduct was “morally reprehensible” and inconsistent with Harvard’s standards, along with a summary of changes made to the Anatomical Gift Program...

Full story at https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/8/19/hms-morgue-settlement/.

Old timers will remember that UCLA had its own body parts scandal back in the day:

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-may-15-me-willedbody15-story.html. 

And there was a still earlier scandal at UCLA regarding disposal of bodies which is referenced in this article:

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-oct-26-me-body26-story.html.

Excuse me. Can you tell me how many CFOs we have?

This blog from time to time has pointed to the lack of up-to-date campus budgetary numbers, particularly at a time when cutbacks are being justified as due to the "deficit." As blog readers will know, we got rid of one Chief Financial Officer for saying Very Bad Words about previous budget releases. We then got an interim CFO as a replacement. Now we seem also to have a supplemental CFO. From the California Post:

Former longtime Lakers executive Tim Harris has found a landing spot — at his alma mater. The UCLA alumnus is consulting for Chancellor Julio Frenk, a role that allows the veteran marketing and business operations specialist to share his expertise on a volunteer basis, the California Post has learned. Reached by phone, Harris confirmed to The Post that he was doing some consulting work for the university but referred all questions to the chancellor’s office. One person familiar with the situation told The Post that Harris would examine revenue streams involving various aspects of campus operations, including athletics...

Full story at https://nypost.com/2026/08/20/sports/ucla-getting-consulting-advice-from-ex-lakers-exec-tim-harris/.

An interesting question is how one can "examine revenue streams" without a budget.

Traveling

From the California Post: There’s one national ranking that USC and UCLA football are almost guaranteed to finish in the top 20 every year now – miles traveled. That’s the case again in 2026. USC will rank No. 8 among the 138 Football Bowl Subdivision teams with a whopping 16,290 round-trip miles for its five road games, according to TripBalls. The Trojans will travel to face Rutgers, Penn State, Wisconsin, Indiana and rival UCLA. Not far behind is UCLA, which ranks No. 12 with 13,636 round-trip miles for its five road games. The Bruins’ road schedule includes games at California, Maryland, Oregon, Minnesota and Michigan...

Full story at https://nypost.com/2026/08/13/sports/usc-ucla-football-among-most-well-traveled-teams-2026/.

As blog readers will know, these travel distances are the result of the move of both universities to the Big Ten.

Or direct to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5ywcLXv-SA.

Straws in the Wind - Part 440

From the Cornell Daily Sun: Cornell alumni and students who received financial aid anytime between Fall 2003 and February 2024 are beginning to receive payments from a suit alleging Cornell and 16 other institutions conspired to price fix tuition and aid. The suit, Corzo et. al v. Brown University et. al, alleges the universities worked together to favor wealthy students and reduce financial aid to students through an organization known as the 568 Presidents Group — ultimately violating the Sherman Antitrust Act, which prohibits entities from cooperating to limit competition. The group was named for an exemption to the Sherman Antitrust Act that allows need-blind institutions to collaborate on financial aid principles to make financial aid similar among universities.

In the lawsuit, a group of student plaintiffs alleged that the universities did not act need blind and instead considered potential admits’ ability to pay, collaborating to set their aid at similar levels — thereby limiting the choices a student might have in receiving financial aid. Overall, the plaintiffs said, aid was lower than it would have been without the collusion. On July 2, U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois Matthew Kennelly ordered the first distribution of settlements to be sent out to affected alumni and students, Cornellians included. Though Cornell has not yet settled, students and alumni are receiving payments because, under antitrust law, any co-conspirator is held liable for the overall harm, regardless of if a specific university has settled or not...

Full story at https://www.cornellsun.com/article/2026/08/payments-go-out-in-financial-aid-price-fixing-suit-but-cornell-has-yet-to-settle.

===

From The Dartmouth: On July 20, 3,988 Dartmouth students and alumni began receiving settlement payments from the class action lawsuit Henry, et al. v. Brown University, et. al, in which the plaintiffs alleged that 17 universities, including Dartmouth, colluded to lower admitted students’ financial aid awards. The 17 universities comprise the 568 Presidents Group, which claimed protection from antitrust laws under Section 568 of the Improving America’s Schools Act of 1994 by devising “a set of common standards” to determine students’ financial aid, described as the “consensus approach.” All 17 members were accused of having violated the 568 Exemption’s need-blind admissions requirement by considering applicants’ financial circumstances. The group disbanded in 2022; College spokesperson Jana Barnello declined to comment on why Dartmouth joined and left the 568 group.

According to the settlement’s website, the first rounds of payments — which average $2,000 per claimant — was sent electronically on July 20. Payments for claimants who requested a physical check were mailed on July 28. On Feb. 25, 2024, Dartmouth agreed to a settlement payment of $33.75 million. Dartmouth’s settlement, along with settlement claims from nine other universities, contributed to the checks distributed to affected students this July...

Full story at https://www.thedartmouth.com/article/2026/08/dartmouth-students-begin-receiving-payments-from-2022-financial-aid-class-action-settlement.