George Mason University announced Thursday it was renaming its law school in honor of the late Justice Antonin Scalia. Scalia's colleague of more than 20 years, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, has already voiced her approval.
"It is a tribute altogether fitting that George Mason University’s law school will bear his name," said RBG in a statement about The Antonin Scalia School of Law at George Mason University. "May the funds for scholarships, faculty growth, and curricular development aid the Antonin Scalia School of Law to achieve the excellence characteristic of Justice Scalia, grand master in life and law."
Ginsburg also said that as "a colleague who held him in highest esteem and great affection," she misses Scalia's "bright company and the stimulus he provided, his opinions ever challenging me to meet his best efforts with my own."
Justice Scalia was a guest lecturer at George Mason's law school, and spoke at the 1999 dedication of its building. He also lived nearby in McLean.
George Mason has already updated its homepage to reflect the renaming. The university received pledges totaling $30M to support its law school—the largest combined gifts in the university's history.
Of the $30M, $20M came from an anonymous donor who approached Leonard Leo of the Federalist Society and asked the university to name the law school in honor of Scalia. The remaining $10M is a grant from the Charles Koch Foundation.
The funds will also help establish three new scholarships: the Antonin Scalia Scholarship (for academic excellence), A. Linwood Holton Jr. Leadership Scholarship (named for the former VA Governor, for students who overcame barriers to success or demonstrated leadership), and F.A. Hayek Law, Legislation, and Liberty Scholarship (named for a Nobel Prize winner, it'll be awarded to students who want to study economics applied to law).
The school's Board of Visitors has approved the renaming, and the name change is pending approval from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. There will be a formal dedication ceremony this fall.
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