ASSLaw Got Itself An Equally Kickass Eagle

Right-wing law school adds bald eagle statue because why not?

Bald Eagle and a flagWhen George Mason University Law School renamed itself ASSLaw (the Antonin Scalia School of Law to be technical about it), the world had a good guffaw at the Koch-funded school’s expense. When it quickly tried to rebrand itself as the Scalia Law School we had an even greater guffaw at the notion that they would ever not be labeled ASSLaw.

Go ahead… type ASSLaw into your browser’s search bar and watch as Wikipedia tells you what’s up.

So it’s safe to say we should all harbor reasonably low expectations when it comes to ASSLaw’s efforts to portray itself as a serious law school — e.g. this moment —  but I certainly wasn’t expecting this.

GMU President Angel Cabrera celebrates the unveiling. Photo via Chris Teale of ARL Now

GMU President Angel Cabrera celebrates the unveiling. Photo via Chris Teale of ARL Now

Enter the “Bill of Rights Eagle,” a welcome upgrade over the “Necessary and Proper Clause Narwhal” that was surely discussed in committee. It’s an Eagle with a copy of the Bill of Rights under its talons. God, GMU won’t stop until their campus is the tailgate of an F-150. They’re a Gadsden Flag and course offering entitled: “Government Ethics: Lock Her Up or Lock Her Up and Throw Away the Key” away from the full redneck status their benefactors crave.

Even though it’s new to GMU, the statue itself has a long history. The statue’s sculptor, Greg Wyatt, is to eagles what Arturo Di Modica is to bulls, the difference is Wyatt — whose Bill of Rights Eagle spent a couple of years in the Senate before moving to Harvard and finally to ASS Law — doesn’t seem to complain as much about his work being recontextualized as it moves around. Because make no mistake, an eagle defending the bill of rights outside JFK’s dorm room conveys a different message that an eagle defending the bill of rights at a school with an NRA endowed professorship.

As reported by Chris Teale in ARL Now — who has the full rundown of the ceremony and the statue — Wyatt has a definite understanding of what he feels his work says:

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Cast in bronze by sculptor Greg Wyatt, the 4,300-pound eagle has a seven-foot wingspan and was dedicated as part of the university’s Law Day celebrations.

It shows an American eagle standing on top of the Bill of Rights, protecting them with its enormous wings. In an interview after the ceremony, Wyatt said it was symbolic of standing against oppression and for freedom.

“It’s a permanent memorial to free speech and artistic practice, unlimited by your format and materials,” he said. “It’s something you want to pass from one generation to the next.”

A “permanent memorial to free speech.” What a fitting location for this statute: juxtaposing George Mason’s role in writing the Bill of Rights with the direct and indirect efforts of those involved with the school to put a man in the White House who’s looking seriously at amending away the First Amendment.

Kind of full circle.

‘Bill Of Rights Eagle’ Unveiled At GMU’s Scalia Law School [ARL Now]

Earlier: George Mason Law Changing Name To Antonin Scalia School Of Law
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HeadshotJoe Patrice is an editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.