The Blue Wall of Silence Lives in Other Professions Too.

He deleted his tweets, but the incoming executive director of the Constitutional center at Georgetown Law wrote of "lesser" candidates being considered for the SCOTUS job and apologized for his "inartful" selection of words, including the dig "thank heaven for small favors."

English is not his native language.  Catholicism is something he has not studied.

In lobbying for his preferred pick -- an Asian-American male -- some say the incoming director crossed a line, and Georgetown appears to be concerned with how their new hire will inferfere with their brand of inclusion and diversity on a campus known for Catholic social justice traditions.  I suspect the school thought they were adding to their diversity collection in hiring the Russian-American Jew, expecting the new hire to be more a grateful  Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman -type hire...

Now, the school's brand is being questioned and they are being dragged into an unwanted controversial fight with identity groups all around picking sides:

I wonder how many black female law professors signed this letter?  It seems Russian-American Jews are overrepresented.  And women, underrepresented.

 

It's Georgetown's choice to make.  If they appear to be backing down on protecting the brand they are building -- in face of a law professor "blue wall of silence" letter insisting that free speech today means accepting some very non-diplomatic thoughts and language from people hired to represent the campus in the top jobs -- then they deserve what comes next...

I hardly think Mr. Shapiro will stop believing what he does, or sharing his thoughts publicly, if the school retains him as executive director and makes him the public face of their brand.

He didn't build that.

He's qualified for the job, but not the best choice based on all factors considered, including emotional intelligence and background personal history...  

Georgetown and Ilya Shapiro, as they say in the admissions game, it's not a good fit.  I could definitely see him practicing his craft more comfortably, and sharing his opinions more openly at a place like George Mason Law, where his beliefs are not in direct contradiction with school teachings.

It's like the homosexual grade-school teachers in Catholic school districts whose contracts are not renewed when they marry a same-sex partner.  It doesn't mean they are not qualified to teach.  It means their personal values clash with the brand the community is building and the values being taught in classes and on campus.

Maybe in the long-run, defining the long-term value of the Georgetown Law brand and building a place where all parties are a good fit in endorsing and working in good faith to uphold the brand beliefs are more important than assembling a diverse administration staff with minority voices like Mr. Shapiro's represented in the mix?  He's not being silenced, nor excluded, just not being invited to sing off key so loudly in the catholic choir...  Gonna drown out the existing soprano section.

I don't mean to offend *wink*, but speaking my own opinions freely here:  surely there are plenty of other candidates as qualified as Ilya Shapiro for this executive director job, none of them lesser than his own personal uplift story, academic credentials, brief working history and especially, communication skills?

He is young man with family to support.  There will be other opportunities for him elsewhere, I am sure.  This hire, in retrospect, was just not a good fit for either party.