Starr: Leaving the Garden of Eden for the desert

I just finished my first year at UCLA School of Law. But Kenneth Starr is finishing up his final year at Pepperdine University Law School. Starr, however, is not a student but, as the former Whitewater prosecutor, is the dean. And he’s leaving to run Baylor University.

I love the imagery in this weekend profile from The New York Times:

Leaving the oceanside cliffs of Malibu for the dusty plains of Waco is rather like leaving the Garden of Eden to go wander in the desert. It’s a choice few would make willingly. On hearing of his impending move to Texas, one is tempted to ask Kenneth Starr, the former Whitewater prosecutor, if he accidentally bit the wrong apple.

Read the rest here. It’s an interesting story, and includes some surprising details. For one, Starr’s wife was born Jewish but is now Christian. This leads into a discussion of whether Starr will be hiring any Jewish or Muslim faculty at Baylor. As former Judge Bruce Einhorn knows, Starr has no problem employing someone of quite different religion and politics.