AG: State council has no say on naming law school for Scalia

(AP) — George Mason University does not need state approval to name its law school for the late Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia, according to Virginia's attorney general's office.

[...] at a SCHEV meeting Monday in Lexington, members of the council's Academic Affairs Committee said they had received guidance for the attorney general's office that SCHEV has no authority to weigh in on the law school's plans because the proposed change does not affect the school's mission, programming or enrollment.

Michael Kelly, a spokesman for Attorney General Mark Herring, a Democrat, said Monday that no formal advisory opinion was given and that any informal advice provided by the office is protected by attorney-client privilege.

The university's faculty Senate also voted to express "deep concern" about the name change, saying it was concerned about celebrating a justice "who made numerous public offensive comments about various groups — including people of color, women and LGBTQ individuals."

The law school's faculty, meanwhile, voted unanimously to support the name changes, accusing the faculty Senate of ideological bias and praising Scalia as "among the most consequential figures in the history of the Supreme Court."