Lee Bollinger was voted in as the 12th University president in a room of applause and emotional acclaim earlier this month.
Even after two regents were initially reserved in their support, Bollinger returned to campus to a virtual parade of well-wishers and an atmosphere of jubilation.
But not all members of the University community have been affected by this enthusiasm.
Critics on opposing ends of the political spectrum - civil libertarians and campus conservatives - said they have worries about the way Bollinger might lead the University, and how his opinions could affect their respective efforts.
"We were hoping the new president might be more responsible in terms of his constitutional obligations," said Ilona Cohen, president of the University's chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Cohen said Bollinger has not always advocated free speech with enough fervor. She cited a 1992 incident involving the removal of an art exhibit on prostitution from a conference sponsored by a Law School student group.
The art exhibit, by local artist Carol Jacobsen, showed documentaries of prostitute interviews, large photos, business cards of London prostitutes, and was carpeted with condoms. It was removed by the student group amid allegations that feminist scholar and Law School Prof. Catharine MacKinnon incited the Law student group to remove the display.
"My position was, and still is, the students have a right ... under the First Amendment to decide whom to invite to their conferences," Bollinger said yesterday. "I did not personally agree with what the students did in this particular case, and the students apologized to the artist publicly."
Law Prof. Terrance Sandalow said the incident "was very widely misunderstood on campus. There is no justification, not the slightest reason, to be concerned about Lee's First Amendment values and academic freedoms beyond First Amendment values."
But Cohen said that by allowing the student group to withdraw the exhibit, Bollinger was guilty of censorship. This action indicates that Bollinger might not be shy about violating the Constitution in the future, Cohen said.
"It's naive for us to assume he'll protect our First Amendment rights now, when he failed to do just that as dean of the Law School," Cohen said. "It doesn't make sense to me - who knows why people violate the First Amendment? ... Clearly he has a censorship record, and that is something that concerns us."
"It took threatening a lawsuit to get Bollinger to accept a settlement," said Julie Steiner, vice chair of the Washtenaw County chapter of the ACLU. "After it was signed, he basically reneged on the agreement. ... He said he changed his mind."
Steiner said Bollinger agreed with the ACLU to redisplay the exhibit and hold a censorship forum. She said Bollinger then backed out of the agreement.
"These were actions. They were taken. They speak for themselves. We don't think these were isolated incidents," Steiner said.
Steiner said Bollinger agreed with the ACLU to redisplay the exhibit and hold a censorship forum. She said Bollinger then backed out of the agreement.
He also said the ACLU used the controversy as a focal point to criticize MacKinnon. An outspoken legal scholar, MacKinnon's fame and infamy are legendary in national academia. She was given the "Censor of the Year" award by the ACLU prior to the controversy's development.
"I felt that the ACLU was engaged in this instance in an effort to intimidate and silence Catharine MacKinnon," Bollinger said.
Bill Dobbs, a Law School student in the early '80s, said he was "horrified" when hearing that Bollinger was chosen as president.
"Basically, he is terrible," Dobbs said. "He is no friend of free expression."
Dobbs said the art exhibit controversy shows Bollinger's lack of respect for speech. He also blasted Bollinger because he "never uttered a word against the speech code on campus."
Yet in an Oct. 24 town meeting, Bollinger said he and former Law Dean Sandalow stated their concern about a 1987 draft of a code of non-academic conduct.
"Former Dean Sandalow and I went to the person in the administration and said, 'We've got to tell you, as your constitutional law people around here, that you have a major problem and the code should be withdrawn,'" Bollinger said.
Anne Marie Ellison, an anti-Code activist who leads the Student Rights Commission on the Michigan Student Assembly, said she is not worried that Bollinger would behave as a censor.
"I would hope that he wouldn't support a resurgency of a speech code, and I can't imagine that he would," Ellison said.
Far from being worried, Ellison said she is hopeful about Bollinger's presidency, because his credentials as a constitutional scholar may lead to a more student-friendly version of the current Code of Student Conduct.
Nicholas Kirk, president of the University's chapter of the College Republicans, said he is worried that Bollinger may not be accepting of conservative members of the University community.
"I think Lee Bollinger coming in as president may bring a chilling effect on some of the students who have Republican views on this campus," Kirk said.
"We look forward to working with the new president. If Lee is sincere about working with all students and working with all student views, we'd be happy to have him."
Kirk predicted Bollinger and campus Republicans will "cross paths before the year is out."
Bollinger said he attempts to take divergent viewpoints into consideration when making decisions.
"I try as hard as I possibly can to keep an open mind on issues and promote open debate and discussion," Bollinger said.
Sandalow said Bollinger "will listen carefully to what is said by people on all sides of issues." Bollinger "will probably disagree" with conservative students on some issues, Sandalow said. "I don't suppose that any president or any person alive can make everyone happy."