Dozens of Yale Law School students participated in a sit-in against Yale alumnus and Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Monday. The students demanded an investigation of recent sexual misconduct accusations facing the Supreme Court nominee after the New Yorker published a report alleging that Kavanaugh acted sexually inappropriate toward a fellow student at a party.
The protesters dressed in black and filled a hallway of the law school building, with organizers saying that Kavanaugh poses a “real threat” to the country. Another alumnus, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., joined the protesters and addressed them. Blumenthal serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Other Yale students took buses to Capitol Hill to protest the nomination, which they equated to the nomination process of Justice Clarence Thomas, who was confirmed despite sexual harassment allegations by Yale Law School alumna Anita Hill nearly three decades ago.
Kavanaugh’s latest accuser, Deborah Ramirez, alleges that Kavanaugh exposed himself while she was drunk during a party in the early 1980s. Christine Blasey Ford previously accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her at a party during their high school years. Kavanaugh has vehemently denied the allegations, and is scheduled to testify along with Ford on Thursday. He called both claims “smears, plan and simple” and “grotesque and obvious character assassination.”
Both allegations have fallen under scrutiny due to inconsistencies and lack of witnesses.
Professors canceled a total of 31 classes to help facilitate the sit-in, while the dean of the school applauded the students’ activism.
“The allegations of sexual misconduct against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh are rightly causing deep concern at Yale Law School and across the country,” Yale Law School Dean Heather Gerken said in a statement. “As dean, I cannot take a position on the nomination, but I am so proud of the work our community is doing to engage with these issues, and I stand with them in supporting the importance of fair process, the rule of law and the integrity of the legal system.”
Fifty faculty members also penned a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee demanding a “fair and deliberate” confirmation process.
Brendan Pringle (@BrendanPringle) is writer from California. He is a National Journalism Center graduate and formerly served as a development officer for Young America’s Foundation at the Reagan Ranch.
