Cutting the Mustard: Affirmative Action and the Nature of Excellence is a 1987 non-fiction book by civil libertarian and United States lawyer Marjorie Heins about the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and its relationship to affirmative action and sexism. Heins discusses the case of Nancy Richardson, dean of student affairs at the Boston University School of Theology, who was removed from her position by the school's administration in 1981. Heins represented Richardson in an unsuccessful lawsuit against Boston University for wrongful termination and sexism. Cutting the Mustard recounts the case, interspersing reflections on the lawsuit with a discussion of relevant case law, decisions by the Supreme Court of the United States related to affirmative action and multiple criticisms of contradictory court decisions in affirmative-action cases. The book was positively received by the Harvard Law Review which recommended From Midterms to Ministry for further information. It was also reviewed by the Women's Review of Books, Women's Rights Law Reporter and California Lawyer. A review in Library Journal by a Harvard Law School librarian criticized the book for lacking a substantive analysis of the case. Background Marjorie Heins is an attorney with a focus on civil liberties. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University in 1967 and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, receiving her juris doctor degree in 1978. Before Cutting the Mustard, Heins' book Strictly Ghetto Property: The Story of Los Siete de la Raza was published in 1972. Cutting the Mustard: Affirmative Action and the Nature of Excellence was first published in 1987. Content summary Cutting the Mustard describes an unsuccessful case in which the author was involved as an attorney. Boston University School of Theology dean of student affairs Nancy Richardson was removed from her position by the school's administration in 1981. Heins (at the time, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney) represented Richardson in a lawsuit against the school alleging sexism. Richardson and the school had differing views on affirmative action; she supported the concept, opposing the administration's hiring strategy for minority candidates. Heins provides background, including management's failure to hire several key candidates. One was Beverly Harrison, a professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York who was supported by the majority of the school's professors. Boston University President John Silber and nine other faculty members interviewed Harrison for two hours, criticizing her support