The Slatest

George Mason Rebrands Rebranded Antonin Scalia School of Law Because of Unfortunate Acronym

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia during an interview on July 27, 2012, in Washington, D.C.

Paul Morigi/Getty Images

Shortly after Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s death in February, George Mason University announced it would rename its law school to honor the fallen legal hero of the right and collected $30 million in donations—including $10 million from the Charles Koch Foundation—as part of the tribute. The school, which was previously known as simply George Mason University School of Law, shed its unbranded status, and re-emerged in the world last week as the Antonin Scalia School of Law at George Mason University. Seems straightforward enough, but a bit of a mouthful. After all, nobody picks the University of Nevada–Las Vegas or the University of California–Los Angeles to win the NCAA tournament.

After a few days to take the new name out for a spin, what was the new Antonin Scalia School of Law’s acronym nickname shaping up to be? The Internet (read: Twitter) seemed most enthralled with these two options: #ASSol and #ASSLaw. Or #ASSoL at George Mason, for those who felt like going long.

The online ribbing apparently hit home enough to prompt a slight touch up on the GMU legal rebrand. “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 the Wall Street Journal. “The name, officially, remains ‘The Antonin Scalia School of Law at George Mason University’ … But on its website and marketing materials, the name now reads: ‘The Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University.’ ” And that’s “no accident,” says the Journal.