Education

Undergrads Mobilize To Blow George Mason Law Students’ Chance To Study Under Kavanaugh

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Students at George Mason University are advocating for the termination of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who is scheduled to teach a George Mason law class in England this summer.

Kavanaugh is currently scheduled to teach the class “Creation of the Constitution” to George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School students in Runnymede, England, where the Magna Carta was signed over 804 years ago, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.

Students on George Mason University’s Fairfax, Virginia, campus who say they are survivors of sexual assault are now banding together to protest Kavanaugh‘s right to teach at George Mason.

“As a survivor of sexual assault, this decision has really impacted me negatively,” one female student said at a Board of Visitors meeting on April 3, according to The College Fix. “It has affected my mental health knowing that an abuser will be part of our faculty.”

Anther female student reportedly told the board: “We are fighting to eradicate sexual violence on this campus. But the hiring of Kavanaugh threatens the mental well being of all survivors on this campus.”

Yet another female student said that Kavanaugh‘s sexual assault allegations make her too uncomfortable with his presence on campus. “As someone who has survived sexual assault three times, I do not feel comfortable with someone who has sexual assault allegations like walking on campus,” she said according to The College Fix.

A petition to “Support Mason 4 Survivors #CancelKavanaughGMU” has been circulating among students and has gained more than 3,500 signatures. George Mason Democrats, a college club, approved of the petition, WaPo reported.

The petition is directed to the George Mason University administration and accuses the administration of “a historic amount of institutional negligence on your part to support survivors of sexual assault and the student body as a whole, which has bred a sense of mistrust and suffering within the Mason community and allies.”

The petition calls on George Mason University to “Terminate AND void ALL contracts and affiliation with Brett Kavanaugh at George Mason University.”

Students delivered the petition to the George Mason administration during a protest on April 4. The students marched around campus, some wearing blue tape on their mouths, and defaced a monument, The College Fix reported.

We really out here doing the damn thing. Sharing my story has been so empowering and healing for me, I am so amazed by the support from students, faculty, and community members ❤️ #chacelkavanaughGMU pic.twitter.com/aF0gV0mEZ5

— sara (@sara_deriso_13) April 5, 2019

WATCH:

Kick Kavanaugh Off Campus! pic.twitter.com/a98p4c0SeF

— Mason For Survivors GMU (@Mason4Survivors) April 4, 2019

George Mason University President Ángel Cabrera said in a March statement:

I respect the views of people who disagreed with Justice Kavanaugh’s Senate confirmation due to questions raised about his sexual conduct in high school. But he was confirmed and is now a sitting Justice. The law school has determined that the involvement of a U.S. Supreme Court Justice contributes to making our law program uniquely valuable for our students. And I accept their judgment.

Kavanaugh will also be joined in England by Jennifer Mascott, a George Mason assistant professor of law who formerly clerked for him and defended him when he was accused of sexual assault in 2018. “He has acted with the utmost character and integrity,” she told “PBS NewsHour.”

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