the search for the law school's first dean was difficult and delayed its opening by a year. ucla's law school planning committee prioritized merit, while the then-conservative regents of the university of california prioritized political beliefs. another factor was a simultaneous deanship vacancy at berkeley law. near the end of 1948, the committee finally identified a sufficiently conservative candidate willing to take the job: l. dale coffman, then the dean of vanderbilt university law school. the regents believed coffman would help bring balance to the ucla campus, which they saw as overrun by communists.