Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Challenging Name Change of UC College of the Law

• Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill in 2022 changing UC Hastings College of the Law to the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco.
• A judge tossed out a lawsuit from the descendants of Serranus Hastings, namesake of the former UC Hastings College of the Law, challenging the name change.
• Hastings' heirs claimed there is no evidence that Hastings took part in the killings of Native Americans.

A judge threw out a lawsuit from the descendants of Serranus Hastings, former namesake of the University of California (UC) Hastings College of the Law, challenging the name change under a centuries-old state law.

Superior Court Judge Richard Ulmer found that an 1878 California law saying UC's law school in San Francisco "shall forever be known" as Hastings College of the Law was not a binding contract and could be freely amended or repealed, according to reporting from the San Francisco Chronicle.

Ulmer also rejected a claim that the name change violated the California Constitution, which requires UC to remain "free of all political or sectarian influence," the Chronicle said. Ulmer pointed to the fact that the law school's policy-making board requested to change its namesake, not the state Legislature attempting to dictate policy.

A lawyer for Hastings' descendants said they would appeal the court's ruling.

Serranus Hastings was a California Supreme Court justice who founded the school in 1878. In the 1850s, he was involved in the mass killings of Yuki people in the Round Valley and Eden Valley region of California, according to the findings of the Hastings Legacy Review Committee created by Chancellor David L. Faigman.

The law school's board of directors voted unanimously to remove "Hastings" from its name in July 2021. The recommendation required approval by both houses of the California State Legislature and the governor.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1936 in September 2022, officially renaming UC's Hastings College of the Law as the College of the Law, San Francisco.

The name change officially took effect on Jan. 1, 2023.