George Mason University Fixes Its #ASSoL Problem

Last week it was announced the George Mason University was naming its law school after Antonin Scalia, prompting some of you to immediately note that the new name, the Antonin Scalia School of Law, yielded the acronym ASSoL, which is especially funny in our hashtag-happy era. Well, snicker no more. Or at least, snicker less. Via the Wall Street Journal:

The name, officially, remains “The Antonin Scalia School of Law at George Mason University” in honor of the late justice who died in February. But on its website and marketing materials, the name now reads: “The Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University”. That’s no accident.

The first five words of the “School of Law” version form an acronym that has a phonetic resemblance to a vulgarity, a source of amusement for some bloggers and tweeters and a source of non-amusement for George Mason’s administration, which agreed to rename itself after Justice Scalia at the request of an anonymous donor who pledged $20 million.

A tentative but not finalized decision was made to nip the name-needling in the bud and rearrange the words, a person familiar with the school’s internal discussions told Law Blog. A school spokesman declined to comment. You have to think that Justice Scalia, famous for his puckish sense of humor, would be amused.

It will always be ASSoL to us.