Anthony Scalia School of Law: ASSoL

Antonin Scalia Hated Acronyms Anyway

Tony Mauro, The National Law JournalApril 6, 2016
The late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia might have offered his own solution to the awkward acronym problem George Mason University created by renaming its law school after him last week: Ban the acronym altogether.
Scalia, who died Feb. 13, hated acronyms and urged lawyers to avoid them and instead use phrases like "the commission"—or, in his instance, perhaps "the law school"—instead of pulling from the "alphabet soup" of acronyms.

Soon after the university announced the new name of the school—the Antonin Scalia School of Law—tweeters and bloggers noted derisively that its acronym would be “ASSoL,” a homophone of a less-than-complimentary word. "ASSoL? Did anyone think to spell/sound out that acronym before approving it?" one tweeter asked. Social media was also abuzz with the hashtag “ASSlaw.”

The commentary gave school officials second thoughts, and Dean Henry Butler addressed the issue in a letter sent to students and alumni on April 4. Here is an excerpt from Butler's letter, which ends in another acronym that might have annoyed Scalia:  "Under the terms of the anonymous gift, we are authorized to use a variety of different names. The name initially announced—The Antonin Scalia School of Law—has caused some acronym controversy on social media. The Antonin Scalia Law School is a logical substitute. We anticipate the naming will be effective on July 1, 2016 pending final approval by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV)."

Read more: http://www.nationallawjournal.com/printerfriendly/id=1202754248763#ixzz45EXUI8L8