By Andy Howlett '10
Staff Writer

Thanks to a student who missed orientation, the Law School has received an unexpected burst of media attention from the other side of the globe.

Starting in the middle of August, news outlets in Taiwan have intently chronicled the saga of Chen Chih-chung. Chen, a 31-year-old Taiwan native, was to be a J.D. candidate and member of the Law School’s Class of 2011. However, instead of struggling through his first month of Contracts and Torts, he has found his status as a student revoked for failure to attend the Law School’s orientation on August 18.

Chen Chih-chung would not have been an ordinary first-year student. He is the son of Taiwan’s former President, Chen Shui-bian, who served from 2000 to 2008. After leaving office in May, he was indicted for his alleged role in a large-scale embezzlement and money laundering scheme.

The younger Chen missed the Law School’s orientation when he flew home to cooperate with an inquiry into whether he played a role in the alleged criminal enterprise. Chen Chih-chung has since been added as a defendant in the investigation. The entire Chen family has steadfastly denied that they have engaged in any illegal activity.

Chen had flown to the United States on August 9 and attended a University-wide orientation for international students that began August 11. Shortly before the Law School’s orientation, Chen received a summons from the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office—the highest prosecuting body in Taiwan—and was required to travel back to Taiwan. Chen was then removed from the Class of 2011 for missing the orientation for first-year law students, which the University confirmed.

Chen has suggested that the University was acting under pressure from the Taiwanese media, telling the Taipei Times that “the school had a drastic change in [its] attitude” towards him. The same article reported that former President Chen went further, accusing the University of telling his son not to attend because of pressure from Taiwanese media. Chen Chih-chung later told the Times that he left the school in part to avoid the media that had swarmed on Grounds.

Several students at the Law School said that reporters from foreign media outlets—including the United Daily News and China Times—were conspicuously present around the Law School during orientation, which concluded prior to the return of most second- and third-year students. Reporters appear to have gained access to the building, as evidenced by reports in the China Post that Chen’s name was posted among other new students on a bulletin board. (A name occupying Chen’s position in alphabetic order has been blacked out of the first-year section listings posted in Slaughter Hall. The marked-out student was to be a member of Section J.)

A third-year student said he witnessed what looked like an impromptu press conference with Taiwanese media in Clay Hall on the first day of orientation. University Assistant Vice President for Public Affairs Carolyn S. Wood stated that no press conference ever took place, adding that “being bombarded by the Taiwanese media is not the same as a press conference.” The reporters’ presence grew to the point that the Law School instructed Peer Advisers and other student leaders to refer any media inquiries to the University.

At the center of the frenzy—and indicative of Taiwan’s interest in Chen—was confusion over whether or not Chen had a student ID card. The University had at one point stated that Mr. Chen was not issued an ID card. When questioned by reporters, Chen produced his University ID card and said, “That is inaccurate, because I do have [a Virginia student ID] . . . I was at the student orientation activity for international students on [Aug. 11], where I received my student ID and paid my tuition . . .”

Assistant Vice President Wood was quoted soon thereafter in both the Taipei Times and the China Post as stating that her earlier statements were erroneous and based on conflicting internal information. The University said that Chen had received an ID card but nevertheless had been removed from the student rolls. The correction appears to have quelled media interest in the University, with considerably fewer articles appearing on Chen’s student status since the correction.

The Law School and the University have denied all allegations that outside pressures influenced the decision to remove Chen. Like other students who miss orientation, Chen was removed from the Class of 2011 like other students who miss orientation. Law School Admissions Office policy states that students who miss the first day of orientation forfeit their places in the class unless prior arrangements have been made with Senior Assistant Dean for Admissions Jason Trujillo. (Trujillo could not be reached for comment before press time.) The policy was emphasized in a letter sent to all incoming members of the Class of 2011 by Assistant Dean for Student Affairs Martha Ballenger. Vice President Wood was quoted in the China Post as saying that Mr. Chen must reapply for admission should he wish to join the Class of 2012.

Huang Chi-Nung, an LL.M. student at the Law School who hails from Taipei, said that he was not surprised that Mr. Chen’s withdrawal from the University has become a “big headline” in Taiwan. He said that many in Taiwan saw the indictment of the Chen family members as a political ploy. Huang expressed suspicion as to whether the charges against the former President were meritorious, much less those against his son and daughter-in-law.

Huang also indicated that the chain of events seemed strange and unwarranted as a matter of course, given that Chen had already paid tuition and received his ID card. “Why revoke someone’s student status just because he or she doesn’t attend a speech in Caplin Auditorium?” he wondered.

Chen’s saga—and the University’s involvement in it—continues to be a major news item in Taiwan while receiving limited attention in the U.S. Law School Dean Paul Mahoney joked about the persistence of the reporters: “Once you get on the radar screen of the Taiwanese media, it’s very hard to get yourself off of it.”