PhD Candidate, @UCBerkeley. JD, @Harvard_Law. Writing a corporate history of the American university.
Berkeley, CA
Joined July 2019
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My latest on the corporate dynamics underlying the "multiversity"
Opinion | Critics often describe universities as sprawling institutions that have lost sight of teaching and research. But a single campus may contain dozens of separately incorporated entities, each with its own mission, officers, and powers. Here's why that matters. chroni.cl/3SHw3cs
Michael Banerjee retweeted
Dennis Wieboldt ’26 J.D. (@DennisWieboldt), visiting assistant professor of law at Notre Dame Law School, is taking his Notre Dame Law scholarship on the road, with four talks at four universities—Boston University School of Law (@BU_Law), Boston College Law School (@BCLAW), Santa Clara University (@SantaClaraUniv), and Stanford Law School (@StanfordLaw).
Last month, @PressHerald published this terrific article on the more than 234,000 acres that @BowdoinCollege and @ColbyCollege received from Massachusetts and Maine between 1794 and 1861. That's more land than @UMaine got under the Morrill Act of 1862.
pressherald.com/2026/03/31/h…
Another terrific essay from Haris Durrani
Many thanks to Laura Ansley @AHAhistorians for terrific editing; @MABanerjee & @ChuMinghsi for feedback; & my dissertation committee, without which the project wouldn't have *lifted off* (ha): Angela Creager, @legalhis, Chris Beauchamp, Asif Siddiqi, @natasha_wheatl.
It was a pleasure recording this episode—many thanks to the Source Collect team for all their work on this!
A new episode of CLR's official podcast, Source Collect, is live!🎙️
@MABanerjee at the Jurisprudence and Social Policy Program of UC Berkeley Law joins CLR to discuss his CLR Online article, "What Harvard's Lawsuit Should Have Said."
Listen wherever you get your podcasts!
Michael Banerjee retweeted
“When it was founded in 1978, JSP was the first interdisciplinary law-focused Ph.D. program in the U.S. & it continues to be the leading program of its kind anywhere,” said Professor Sarah Song, associate dean for the Jurisprudence & Social Policy Program: bit.ly/4atU5hl
My latest, published today by WashU Law Review Online, shows that public authorities granted over 4 million acres of land to universities like Columbia, Dartmouth, Harvard, and Michigan before and after the 1862 Morrill Act
wustllawreview.org/2026/01/1…
Those looking to understand the relationship between trustees and professors might find our recent @CulturalCritiq1 Online roundtable on Timothy V. Kaufman-Osborn's 2023 book "The Autocratic Academy" useful: manifold.umn.edu/projects/cc…
Texas A&M Requires Approval for Courses That ‘Advocate’ Certain Ideologies
Many faculty members decried the new restrictions on race- and gender-related courses as an assault on academic freedom. Meanwhile, the board also discussed a once-per-semester...bit.ly/4p4syr0
ALT A person stamping a document labeled "REJECTED"
Very happy to be a part of a wonderful cohort of BELS fellows. Many thanks to @BerkeleyLaw and @CSLSatBerkeley
Three students in our Jurisprudence and Social Policy Program, Nandina Babic (pictured), Michael Banerjee, and Margot Lipin are Berkeley Empirical Legal Studies Graduate Fellows this school year: bit.ly/48lEjUV #UCBerkeleyLaw
Douthat: "The federal government doesn't actually have the power to shut down Harvard University, right?"
Mailman: "No, no, no."
No one can shut down Harvard, except (maybe) the People of Massachusetts, who have long protected it: californialawreview.org/onli…
This week's Interesting Times is a conversation with May Mailman about the Trump administration's plan to reshape higher education:
nytimes.com/2025/09/25/opini…
In case you might not have time to read the full article, I summarized it on the AAUP's Academe Blog: academeblog.org/2025/08/19/w…
In “What Harvard's Lawsuit Should Have Said,” Michael Banerjee argues that Harvard’s lawsuit against the federal government should have invoked its corporate-constitutional rights.
Read more from California Law Review Online at californialawreview.org/onli…
Michael Banerjee retweeted
More relevant than ever: A rich essay by Adam Sitze about the long and complex legal history of university autonomy: chronicle.com/article/the-st…
It was such a pleasure working with the @CalifLRev editors on this piece!
In “What Harvard's Lawsuit Should Have Said,” Michael Banerjee argues that Harvard’s lawsuit against the federal government should have invoked its corporate-constitutional rights.
Read more from California Law Review Online at californialawreview.org/onli…
In this short essay, published today by @CalifLRev, I argue that @Harvard should have invoked its ancient corporate rights in its recent lawsuit against the federal government.
californialawreview.org/onli…
A very important piece from Adam Sitze
We Need a New Theory of Academic Freedom
The strongest defenses of academic freedom derive from arguments for judicial independence and religious liberty, Adam Sitze writes. bit.ly/44Jaf3u
ALT A Bible, judge's gavel and copy of the U.S. Constitution lie atop an American flag.
Michael Banerjee retweeted
Intriguing article from @BerkeleyLaw JSP PhD student @MABanerjee! I'm not sure it solves all the problems, but it does open up some interesting possibilities! Great read! insidehighered.com/opinion/v…
I argue here that if universities are to meet today's challenges, they need to understand and invoke the original basis for what we today call "academic freedom": corporate rights
Opinion | Universities Need to Go Corporate
To preserve institutional autonomy and defend academic freedom, universities should exercise their powerful claims to corporate rights, Michael Banerjee writes. bit.ly/3G58Lak
ALT An aerial view of the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor.
Michael Banerjee retweeted
As the results of a high-stakes judicial race in Wisconsin unfold, our spring alumni magazine examines whether state supreme courts are emerging as pivotal centers of legal power amid the U.S. Supreme Court’s growing deference to federalism. hls.harvard.edu/today/the-co…
Michael Banerjee retweeted
‘It Feels Empowering’: On the Road to Academia, Ph.D. Student Rachel Wallace Takes on Systemic Injustice law.berkeley.edu/article/rac…
Michael Banerjee retweeted
I'm beyond excited that "The Shadow Docket" has received the 2024 Order of the Coif book award.
Even better, I get to share the honor with one of my favorite legal historians—@BerkeleyLaw's Prof. Dylan Penningroth:
orderofthecoif.org/book-awar…