William Barr's controversial actions as U.S. attorney general have for months been weighing heavily on faculty members at George Washington University Law School—the campus that issued his law degree in 1977 and where he had served as a fundraiser and adviser over the decades.

The final straw came June 1, when Barr issued an order for federal police in riot gear to clear peaceful protesters from Lafayette Square in Washington so President Donald Trump could pose for photos in front of a church. The square is just four blocks from the law school, and some students and faculty were ensnared in the protest and its aftermath.

The following day, a group of law professors began drafting a statement condemning Barr's leadership of the U.S. Department of Justice and calling for Congress to censure him and for the Justice Department's inspector general to launch a formal inquiry into his conduct. The faculty released that statement June 23—a day before the House Judiciary Committee was due to hold a hearing on political interference in the Justice Department and threats to prosecutorial independence. More than 80% of the faculty—65 members—signed the statement. It's a remarkable and high-profile break with an alum the school previously held up as a success story.

"William Barr's actions as attorney general since 2019 have undermined the rule of law, breached constitutional norms, and damaged the integrity and traditional independence of his office and of the Department of Justice," the statement reads. "He obfuscated and misled the American public about the results of the Mueller investigation. He wrongfully interfered in the day-to-day activities of career prosecutors, and continues to do so, bending the criminal justice system to benefit the president's friends and target those perceived to be his enemies."

Interim law Dean Christopher Alan Bracey and several associate deans are among the faculty who signed the statement. Catherine Ross, a professor who help draft and circulate the statement with professor Stephen Saltzburg, said in an interview Wednesday that she felt obligated to speak out because of Barr's longstanding connections to GW. Barr was also given an honorary degree by the university in 1992, though Ross said earlier media reports of a faculty effort to strip him of that ceremonial degree are false and based on a misunderstanding about Tuesday's public statement.

She also wanted to send a message to the school's current students and alumni that Barr's tenure at the Justice Department does not reflect the George Washington Law's values.

"We felt it was important to reassure our current and former students about our views of the rule of law, the Constitution, and the norms that govern our justices system," Ross said. "I teach constitutional law, and I've said to some colleagues, 'I don't know what to say when I begin my course in the fall because of this assault that's going on.'"

The faculty statement focuses on four specific actions by Barr: his misrepresentation of the findings of the Mueller Report; his intervention in the sentencing of Roger Stone; his efforts to have prosecution of Michael Flynn dropped; and his involvement in the clearing of Lafayette Square.

The letter was drafted and circulated before Barr last week ousted Geoffrey Berman from his post as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, according to Ross. The drafters decided to stop adding their new concerns to the statement to ensure it would be released in a timely manner.

"We started working on it on June 2," Ross said. "At the time, we didn't have any clue that there would be a Judiciary Committee hearing. The events that led to that hearing are most unfortunate, but the timing of the hearing worked out well for the impact our statement would have."

The GW faculty statement echoes earlier calls by Justice Department alumni that Barr resign.

"His actions have posed, and continue to create, a clear and present danger to civil liberties and the constitutional order," the faculty statement reads.