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Katherine Darmer, Chapman law professor and proponent of gay rights and equality, died Friday after she fell from a building in the 19000 block of MacArthur Boulevard in Irvine.
Darmer, 47, was taken to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana where she died at 12:24 p.m., said Kelly Keyes, superior deputy coroner at the Orange County coroner's office. Her autopsy will be conducted Tuesday.
Tom Campbell, dean of the School of Law, announced Darmer's death in an email to the law school community 9:49 a.m. Saturday but did not include details of Darmer's death.
"She was a devoted teacher, scholar, friend, wife and mother," Campbell wrote in the email. "We feel the loss tremendously and offer our prayers for Katherine's family."
Priscilla Shirkhanloo, a third-year law student, said she last saw Darmer a month ago when the two walked to the Barrera Parking Structure together.
"She didn't strike me as the kind of person to leave behind her kid," she said. "Part of me thinks she'd be happy because Prop. 8 just got overturned."
Darmer joined Chapman faculty in 2000, specializing in criminal procedure. Her experience before that included serving as an assistant United States attorney, lead counsel in prosecution of the 1998 RICO gangs trial and arguing seven cases in front of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
Jason Quinby, who graduated from the law school in May 2011, was a teaching fellow in one of Darmer's classes.
"I'm stunned," Quinby said. "I think it stunned everyone because it was completely unexpected."
On campus, Darmer was a vocal opponent of Prop. 8, a California voter-approved proposition to ban gay marriage. She and Trustee Wylie Aitken wrote the legal brief that was sent to the Supreme Court opposing Prop. 8 signed by President Doti and more than 200 members of the Chapman community. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the gay marriage ban unconstitutional Feb. 7. Darmer posted a short message to her Facebook wall that she was gratified by the decision.
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