Melbourne law professor who said 'Blak' activists led school to 'destruction' to leave

Dr Eric Descheemaeker, a University of Melbourne law professor who wrote an email saying the institution was dictated to by 'Blak' activists and was turning into an 'ideological re-education camp', will leave the university, the law school's dean, Professor Michelle Foster, said on Friday in an email viewed by Guardian Australia.

The university attempted to sack Descheemaeker after the 2023 email to the then dean of Melbourne law school was leaked and posted around the Parkville campus last year. Descheemaeker then sued the university for discrimination, alleging the attempt to expel him in July was because of his political opinion, and Guardian Australia reported earlier this month that the legal dispute had been settled.

Foster said the university and Descheemaeker had resolved their dispute, including the federal court proceeding, on confidential terms. 'Professor Descheemaeker and the University have agreed that Professor Descheemaeker will leave his employment with the University to pursue other opportunities,' she wrote, and added the parties were in dispute over whether he breached university policies by 'making certain communications'.

The leaked August 2023 email accused Melbourne law school of 'celebrating the "noble savage"' and likened it to an 'ideological re-education camp'. Descheemaeker wrote there was 'absolutely no end to where "Blak" activists are meaning to take us – except destruction', court documents show.

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