Law Schools

Donor Tells Students Not To Go To Law School Bearing His Name

Alabama's abortion bill may lead to law school losing out on millions.

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A few months ago, things were really looking up for Alabama Law School. The school moved into the top 25 in the U.S. News rankings and had just secured its largest donation gift ever — $26.5 million — to rename itself the Hugh F. Culverhouse Jr. School of Law at the University of Alabama. Now, Hugh Culverhouse himself is supporting a boycott of the school and the state is mulling over giving him all of his money back.

But is boycotting these states the right move?

As one might suspect, the triggering event was the state’s new abortion law. The law, a hamfisted effort to get the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, is a full-force assault on precedent under the thin veneer of a commitment to the “right to life.” A deeply, deeply held commitment that, in a move straight out of a dark, ironic comedy, doesn’t extend to fetuses killed in laboratories because, according to the bill’s sponsor, “It’s not in a woman.” This is what happens when you say the quiet part out loud.

Hugh Culverhouse, whose name is emblazoned upon the premier legal education institution in the state, responded to the biggest legal issue in the state:

“I cannot stand by silently and allow my name to be associated with a state educational system that teaches students law that clearly conflicts with the United States Constitution and Federal law, and which promotes blatant discrimination,” he said in a statement.

In response, cooler heads prevailed, with the state realizing that the economic impact of pursuing a Quixotic, costly litigation was not worth undermining the education of the state’s students. Just kidding!

University of Alabama Chancellor Finis St. John announced Wednesday that he is recommending the board of trustees give back the donation and remove Culverhouse’s name from the school.

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For what it’s worth, the school claims this move has nothing to do with Culverhouse’s public opposition to the Alabama state government, but personality conflicts that conveniently they only decided to care about when the abortion ban happened.

As Netflix promising a court fight and Disney all but announcing that they’re going to snuff out the burgeoning film industry in Georgia over a slightly less extreme abortion law, the moral weight has very much swayed in favor of “voting with dollars” and delivering body blows to the local economies of states that go down this road.

But Alabama’s eagerness to refund Culverhouse should give everyone pause. The logic of a boycott is to leverage change by withholding economic benefits. But what if they just don’t care? Alabama is willing to garrote its own law school to embark on this purely political ploy. Georgia, a state that’s become increasingly close to a battleground, is willing to watch big players leave and — in time — the locals who made their living servicing the entertainment industry. What if these people really want to kneecap education and industries like entertainment and tech so they can wallow unfettered in their own discriminatory policies? In the long run, a state that makes itself a pariah to those who value progress is ironically more powerful — more safe Senate seats, more uncontested Electoral College votes, and ultimately more Supreme Court justices.

It’s the same reason why the leaders of many rogue nations actually love sanctions.

That’s not to say someone like Culverhouse has to sit idly by and watch his name get saddled with the state’s baggage. He certainly doesn’t, especially if he sees his money being misappropriated. But amid all the boycott talk, it’s worth wondering if specific economic acts are advancing the policy goal or abdicating it. Georgia needs more talented professionals in the entertainment and tech industries to build upon its nascent cosmopolitanism. Alabama needs more publicly educated attorneys — indeed, those are the folks fighting this law in a real, tangible way right now.

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There’s not necessarily a neat and tidy answer to how one should personally respond to laws like this. But the visceral response to cut off the state entirely isn’t always the most strategic one.

University of Alabama’s Top Donor Pushes Boycott Over Abortion Law [Daily Beast]

HeadshotJoe Patrice is a senior 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. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

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