Stanford’s undergraduate residential education program is undergoing a comprehensive review with the goal of improving the experience of living and learning on campus for all undergraduate students, according to leaders of the ResX initiative, who spoke Thursday at the first Faculty Senate meeting of the 2018-19 academic year.

Also at the meeting, Paul Brest, professor emeritus of law and chair of the Advisory Committee on Renaming Junipero Serra Features, gave a presentation on the committee’s work earlier this year to develop the set of recommendations that led to the recent decision to rename some of Stanford’s buildings and other campus features.

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Brest said that in making its recommendations, the committee acknowledged that Serra was a celebrated religious leader and an important figure in California history; however, he was also the founder of the mission system, which inflicted great harm and violence on Native Americans. The committee also took into consideration the current harms experienced by Native American students when encountering the Serra name on campus.

“In the end, the principles call for a balance of interests: the harms to students and faculty weighed against the concern about being too ready to rename,” said Brest, noting that the committee was unanimous its recommendations.

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Drell also reported that a search committee has been formed to propose candidates for the new dean of Stanford Law School. Current Dean M. Elizabeth Magill will leave Stanford in summer 2019 to become provost of the University of Virginia. The committee is co-chaired by the provost and Jane Schacter, the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law.

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