I’m sure most of us have heard the saying, “if you don’t have anything good to say, then don’t say anything at all.” Georgetown’s newest hire could’ve applied that to his latest comments.
According to CNN, Ilya Shapiro, the incoming director for Georgetown University Center for the Constitution, was suspended after he made some controversial comments on Twitter, questioning President Joe Biden’s promise to hire a Black woman for the U.S. Supreme Court vacancy.
This is becoming a common occurrence at Georgetown because less than a year ago, a Georgetown law professor was fired for making disparaging comments about Black students while on a video call.
From CNN:
Ilya Shapiro, who was to take up his position at Georgetown Law on February 1, tweeted on Wednesday: “(o)bjectively best pick for Biden is Sri Srinivasan,” a judge on the US Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia Circuit. Shapiro also described Srinivasan as progressive and smart.
“Even has identity politics benefit of being first Asian (Indian) American,” Shapiro wrote. “But alas doesn’t fit into latest intersectionality hierarchy so we’ll get lesser black women. Thank heaven for small favors?”
Those tweets have since been deleted and he later took to Twitter to apologize.
“A person’s dignity and worth simply do not, and should not, depend on race, gender or any other immutable characteristic,” Shapiro wrote on Twitter.
He added, “While it’s important that a wide variety of perspectives and backgrounds be represented in the judiciary, so blatantly using identity politics in choosing Supreme Court justices is discrediting to a vital institution.”
He later went on to say that he still considered Sri Srinivasan to be the “most qualified” for the vacant Supreme Court vacancy.
He also wrote on Twitter, “Reasonable people can disagree on that particular assessment, but it’s a shame that he and other men and women of every race are excluded from the outset of the selection process.”
According to CNN, Georgetown’s Black Law Student Association is demanding for Shapiro to be fired.
Bill Treanor, the dean of Georgetown University Law Center, released a statement on Shapiro:
Over the past several days, I have heard the pain and outrage of so many at Georgetown Law, and particularly from our Black female students, staff, alumni, and faculty. Ilya Shapiro’s tweets are antithetical to the work that we do here every day to build inclusion, belonging, and respect for diversity. I have heard and listened to a wide range of views, and I am grateful to the many members of the community who have reached out to me and other leaders at the school to share their thoughts.
I am writing to inform you that I have placed Ilya Shapiro on administrative leave, pending an investigation into whether he violated our policies and expectations on professional conduct, non-discrimination, and anti-harassment, the results of which will inform our next steps. Pending the outcome of the investigation, he will remain on leave and not be on campus. This investigation will follow the procedures established by Georgetown University.
Shapiro tweeted again that he is optimistic the investigation will conclude and will find that he didn’t violate any University rules or policies. He expects to join his colleagues shortly.