The proposed renaming George Mason's law school after the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has once more sparked controversy, and not for a problematic acronym. 'No Justice for GMU,' a group of disgruntled faculty and staff members, has created an open letter claiming that the "renaming undermines our mission as a public university and tarnishes our reputation."
The letter's introduction equates how some may interpret Scalia's judicial decisions with his personal views, expressing that the renaming is "an affront to those in our community who have been the targets of Scalia’s racism, sexism, and homophobia."
The letter claims to speak for the entire campus, and for specific demographics. "However, the values that Scalia affirmed from the bench do not reflect the values of our campus community," the letter notes.
It also included:
As a Supreme Court Justice, Scalia enacted direct harms to many in our student body, especially students of color, women, and LGBT students. To those students — and all students committed to realizing our university’s stated commitment to a diverse, accessible, and inclusive learning environment — we want to affirm publicly our commitment to fighting alongside them for a just world, beginning with a just university.
The letter may claim to fight for "students of color, women, and LGBT students," but it would be more accurate to say that the letter fights for those who agree with the letter's claims. In lumping them together, the letter does a disservice to "students of color, women, and LGBT students" who do not hold such a negative view of Scalia.
As if the letter didn't express enough of a bias, the "Who Was Scalia?" page notes that Scalia's views "have been widely criticized by historians and legal scholars." The page links to liberal publications that suit the group's agenda, including:
- The New Yorker, twice
- Mother Jones, twice
- The Washington Post
- The Huffington Post
- The New York Times, twice
- ThinkProgress
There's also a page on "Who are the Kochs?" despite failing to establish a connection to Scalia.
The petition only gained 118 signatures by Monday, roughly 6 percent of the 1,819 faculty members at George Mason, Campus Reform noted. Tuesday saw only a slight increase to 123, still just over 6 percent. The letter has been public since April 7.