NYU was shamed into removing the name of fake hedge fund manager and convicted felon Hakan Yalincak from one of its lecture halls last week, after at least one professor called the school “stupid” and said that is decision to keep the name up “symbolize[d] the failing priorities and integrity of the university.”

The school had previously claimed that the name remained months after Yalincak was sent to prison for 3 and half years because it could not figure out a way to take the letters down without “noticeable marring,” and, for some reason, the $200,000 it was allowed to keep from Hakan (which he had stolen from investors in his faux fund) didn’t cover the “thousands” spokesman John Beckman estimates it would cost to replace the damaged wood paneling. Indeed, a walk up to 19 West 4th Street confirms that a discolored shadow spelling out “Yalincak Family Foundation” next to “Lecture Hall” (which is the room’s interim name) is completely visible from outside the building, on the other side of the street, and even more so from inside, up close.

For NYU’s part, its commitment to having fake principles is being reinforced by a security guard at the front desk who, when asked about a window that was also once graced by the Yalincak name, claimed that no such piece of glass ever existed. (Security guard: Never. DB: Ever? Security Guard: Never. DB: Ever? Security Guard: Never.)

Beckman told the Washington Square News that he and other school officials, “Wished we had made this decision earlier, [but ultimately decided] it was more important to remove a name that did not deserve to be there than to ensure the wall be unmarred.” RE: hideous eyesore, exception-not-the-rule-awesome NYU student Josh Kahn offered, “Let the sun bleach it a little.”

Earlier: You Can Get Away With Anything When You're A (Fake) Hedge Fund Manager
A year later, lecture hall still named for felon

NYU Yanks Hedge Fund Fraudster’s Name From Hall [FINalternatives]