Some students from George Mason University want Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh released from his summer teaching position because of sexual misconduct allegations against him that’d been widely discredited.
On Friday, WDVM News reported that Kavanaugh is slated to teach a course on the originals of the American Constitution at the university’s Antonin Scalia Law School in the U.K. from July 22 to Aug. 2, but his appointment is being protested.
“It is a rare opportunity for students to learn from a Supreme Court justice, and we believe that contributes to making our law program uniquely valuable for our students,” said a statement from the law school.
But Kavanaugh’s student detractors are not seeing the Supreme Court justice’s presence as an opportunity, but as a threat to their safety.
“As a survivor — as a student who comes to this university and expects to have a good education — to experience a happy, safe place, I am insulted,” student Elijah Nichols said for WDVM. Nichols suggested that the hiring of Brett Kavanaugh showed contempt for students’ safety.
As of Apr. 5, as many as 2,900 people had endorsed a Change.org petition that demands GMU rescind the Kavanaugh appointment and issue a formal apology to “survivors” of sexual assault. Twitter also features a #CancelKavanaugh hashtag that is compiling opposition to the judge.