Berman writes in her column about an unidentified finalist for the dean of arts and sciences position at Oakland University. She implies that the candidate's decision to withdrew his application may have been influenced by Michigan's "harsh social climate," particularly an appeals court decision ruling that state universities could no longer offer domestic partner benefits. "Some faculty members," Berman writes, "complain that Oakland's administration has been unwilling to champion its gay faculty members by joining in the legal appeal filed by the ACLU, as the University of Michigan and Wayne State University have done."