Defended by an Angel

In a new defense of education against further closing of the American mind, George Mason University president Angel Cabrera responds to the New York Times in a letter to the editor published May 9:

We have been criticized for naming our law school after Justice Antonin Scalia, whose opinions some consider objectionable and polarizing. If someone who served our country for 30 years at the highest level — and who is considered by experts of diverse political leanings as a great jurist who had a profound effect on the legal field — is not good enough to be recognized this way, I wonder who would be.

On April 29, the same day a front-page Times story fomented outrage over George Mason’s naming its law school for the eminent Supreme Court justice and accepting funds from conservative donors, Cabrera penned a letter to the law school faculty—who had recently voted to censure the rechristening of Antonin Scalia Law School. Here too he defends the naming of the law school, the receipt of funds, and the foremost dedication to intellectual diversity.