IRVINE Calif.

The opening of the University of California, Irvine's new law school in 2009 could be delayed now that the school has to begin a new search for a founding dean, said officials.

UC Irvine Chancellor Michael V. Drake created a storm of controversy after he abruptly withdrew an offer to make respected liberal scholar Erwin Chemerinsky its dean. Drake dropped Chemerinsky because he said he lost confidence in the educator, citing Chemerinsky's recent opinion articles that made him a "lightning rod."

Drake has been accused of quashing academic freedom, criticism that intensified on Thursday when some faculty members called for his resignation. Officials said the action could postpone the law school's opening and make is difficult to lure the scholars and staff needed to establish the school as one of the nation's best.

On Thursday, dozens of students, faculty and staff signed an open letter protesting the dismissal.

"We are disturbed because of the deep violation both of the integrity of the university and of the intrusion of outrageously one-sided politics and unacceptable ideological considerations," the letter read in part.

By the end of the day, Drake attended a meeting where he faced hundreds of faculty members and tried to explain himself. He offered no detailed explanation on why he reversed his decision to hire Chemerinsky.

"My decision not to hire professor Chemerinsky had nothing to do with academic freedom or the infringement of academic freedom in any way," he said.

The speech did little to satisfy his critics. Jutta Heckhausen, secretary of the academic senate, said the faculty panel would have a closed door meeting and might consider making a formal statement against the chancellor.

Plans for the law school called for a dean to be in place this fall and as many as eight senior faculty members to be hired this academic year. The search for Chemerinsky took nine months, a search that will have to begin anew.