WASHINGTON ― A progressive judicial advocacy group plans to begin running ads Wednesday night urging George Mason University students, parents and alumni to pressure the school to reverse its decision to let Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh teach a course this summer.
Demand Justice will run digital ads on Facebook targeted specifically at people with a connection to the Virginia university.
Here’s what the ad looks like:
The group’s ad campaign comes amid campus protests and a student-driven petition with more than 4,000 signatures opposing Kavanaugh’s hiring, given the sexual assault allegations against him. He was confirmed to the Supreme Court in October after an ugly, painful, weekslong Senate fight over whether women’s misconduct allegations against him were credible and mattered.
“Brett Kavanaugh has been credibly accused of sexual assault by multiple women whose allegations have not been thoroughly investigated,” Brian Fallon, executive director of Demand Justice, said in a statement. “His confirmation to the Supreme Court does not absolve him of guilt, and he should not be given a platform to teach. We stand with survivors and urge the George Mason University administration to fire Kavanaugh.”
Asked for comment, George Mason University spokesman Michael Sandler directed HuffPost to a March 27 blog post by the university’s president, Ángel Cabrera, in which he says he will not terminate Kavanaugh’s contract.
“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,” Cabrera wrote. “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.”
The university has agreed to let the student advocacy group Mason 4 Survivors host a town hall discussion with administrators on April 16 to discuss sexual assault prevention.
Cabrera will attend the event, said Sandler.
Kavanaugh is slated to teach a class on the origins of the U.S. Constitution to students at George Mason University’s campus in Runnymede, England. The university signed a three-year contract with him.
This story has been updated to reflect that Cabrera will attend the town hall on sexual assault prevention.