Georgetown Law School new hire Ilya Shapiro has been placed on administrative leave one day before he was set to start his new job after he said President Biden’s nominee to the Supreme Court will be a “lesser Black woman.”
“Ilya Shapiro’s tweets are antithetical to the work that we do here every day to build inclusion, belonging, and respect for diversity,” Georgetown Law School Dean William Treanor wrote in a statement.
“I am writing to inform 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-harrassment, the results of which will determine our next steps,” Treanor added.
Treanor said Shapiro will remain on leave and off-campus until the investigation is complete.
Shapiro, a former top official at the libertarian Cato Institute, was hired by Georgetown University to serve as executive director of the university’s center for the Constitution.
Last week, Shapiro suggested that Biden should consider Judge Sri Srinivasan, who is chief judge of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, for the impending vacancy on the Supreme Court instead of a ‘lesser Black woman.”
“Objectively best pick for Biden is Sri Srinivasan, who is solid prog and v smart. Even has identity politics benefit of being first Asian (Indian) American. But alas doesn’t fit into last intersectionality hierarchy so we’ll get lesser black woman. Thank heaven for small favors?” Shapiro wrote in Tweet on Wednesday.
The university condemned his tweet at the time saying it was “appalling” and “damaging to the culture of equity and inclusion that Georgetown Law is building every day.”
Shapiro deleted the tweets on Thursday and apologized saying: “I meant no offense, but it was an inartful tweet.”
