Fired dean made 'pious phrases policy - Barbara Bader Aldave, former dean of the Catholic St. Mary's Law School, San Antonio, TX

National Catholic Reporter, Dec 12, 1997 by Pamela Schaeffer

She said the passage rates had fallen "much less" than at other schools with large populations of minorities. "It's a fact of life that Mexican Americans and, even more dramatically, African Americans do less well on nationally standardized tests." Nationally, the 71 percent rate is "not bad," she said, but the Texas average is usually in the 80s.

Parker considers it "discriminatory" to suggest that minorities can't do well on standardized tests. "Barbara would be a very good dean at a liberal feminist organization," he said. "She has a lot of talent. She's very smart and passionate about what she cares about. But the real world is not as exciting or important to her as the social agenda.

"I think Barbara ignored the practical aspects of law. Doing a corporate contract is not as much fun as suing a landlord over racial discrimination."

Schurtman said it will be "a phenomenal loss" when Aldave is gone. "Barbara is not afraid to take on unpopular causes," she said. "The clinics, the human rights programs challenge the status quo. She did what she thought was right. She was a model for all of us."