CUNY law school dean cancels herself after 'slaveholder' comment

The dean of the City University of New York announced her resignation from her position at the beginning of 2021, effective in June. The cause of her sudden resignation proved a mystery, as she did not state a reason for her departure.

On Saturday, Mary Lu Bilek, 65, has come to explain why she chose to resign from her position, stating that she referred to herself as a "slaveholder" in a meeting last year, New York Post reports.

Bilek made the comment in a November meeting during a hiring discussion for the open position of associate dean. When colleagues told Bilek that she thought her proposal for hiring would have a "disparate racial impact," Bilek says that she referred to herself as a "slaveholder" in an attempt to blame herself for her the school's racial inequities.

"In a misguided effort to draw an analogy to a model of reparations in order to place blame on myself, as Dean, for racial inequities at our school, I thoughtlessly referred to myself as the ‘slaveholder’ who should be held responsible," she said. "I realized it was wrong the minute I heard myself say it and couldn’t believe the word had come out of my mouth."

Bilek said that she has apologized to her fellows at the meeting as well as the entire faculty of CUNY.

"I am still shocked at what I said and have begun education and counseling to uncover and overcome my biases and further understand the history and consequences of systemic and institutional racism," Bilek said.

Bilek has been with CUNY since 1985, over 35 years. She became the dean in 2016.

She also insisted that the school finds a new dean "as quickly as possible so that I can step aside as Dean even sooner."