GMU: Are conservative donors bullying this public university? Its president says no.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Are conservative donors bullying this public university? Its president says no.

By Susan Svrluga May 2
@SusanSvrluga

George Mason University’s president has responded to concerns raised by faculty, students and others that the public university has become overly dependent on private donations — questions prompted by one recent gift from a foundation with conservative ties and another that asked that the university’s law school be renamed to honor late U.S. Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia.

“I extend my congratulations to Dean Henry Butler for raising the largest gift in university history,” Angel Cabrera, the president of George Mason University, wrote Sunday in a letter to the Faculty Senate, “and to his faculty for what I expect to be a transformative milestone in the already remarkable trajectory of a leading law school.”

This spring, university officials announced $30 million in gifts to the law school. The donations included $10 million from the Charles Koch Foundation, which has donated generously to many institutions and, for some, raised concerns that its gifts conveyed a conservative political agenda, and $20 million from an anonymous donor who asked to rename the law school in honor of Scalia.

{George Mason law school to be renamed the Antonin Scalia School of Law}

....
A spokesman for the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, which has final say on the law school’s proposed name change, wrote in an email: “SCHEV takes seriously the views and opinions of our fellow Virginians on all sides of issues that affect higher education. Like all state agencies, SCHEV is guided by state law and policy. Our staff members are reviewing the proposal from George Mason to determine how it fits within statutes governing such matters and intend to make a recommendation at the next meeting of Council, May 16-17 at Washington & Lee University.”

Here is Cabrera’s letter in full:

Here is the grant agreement, as posted by the Faculty Senate:

Here is a redacted grant agreement, as posted by the Faculty Senate:

Law Blog

‘Scalia Law School’ Sparks Faculty Feud at George Mason

School nixed plans to name scholarship for liberal Justice Ginsburg

By Jacob Gershman and Jess Bravin

Apr 28, 2016 5:47 pm ET

The renaming of George Mason University’s law school after Justice Antonin Scalia has erupted into a tense confrontation within its faculty: between professors embracing the move and scholars outside the law school offended by the association with the high court’s most influential conservative.

Officials at the suburban Virginia public university say they have no intention of reconsidering the rebranding, which comes attached to not just controversy but a heap of money. The school is set to receive its largest combined gift, $10 million from a charity founded by billionaire conservative activist Charles Koch and a $20-million pledge from an anonymous donor who made the gift contingent on the name change.

At the very least, George Mason’s administration faces the potential embarrassment of faculty protests. A university-wide faculty governing board is considering taking a formal stand against the renaming. And more than 100 professors at George Mason, a number of them from social science and humanities departments, have signed a petition condemning both the Scalia name and the legal ideas he espoused.

On the other side of the academic row are professors, mainly from the now-named Antonin Scalia Law School, who are urging the administration not to change course.

Many more links here:

No Justice for GMU

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. And to the great amusement of many,

it can be abbreviated ASSLaw, or ASSOL.

[mike_c]

2. my undergrad degree is from GMU....

It used to take up to two hours to commute each way from Loudoun County, back in the late 1980s. Utter gridlock for miles and miles during rush times.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

3. I used to drive out there every day from Alexandria, back in

1982 through 1983. Eeeek. I had a fake parking permit. I never once paid for parking.