By Maristela Romero
The controversy surrounding Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination drew the attention of the country, including University of Maryland students who hold divided opinions about the scandal.
Kavanaugh’s nomination process, from the alleged sexual assault of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and similar claims from two other women to his emotional response during his testimony, has been met with on-campus protests from some students and sympathy from others.
Senior government and politics major Maggie Gutberlet attended the campus protest against Kavanaugh hoping to spark curiosity among passersby and, in turn, encourage them to learn more about the nature of the sexual allegations against Kavanaugh.
“I am not a sexual assault victim,” Gutberlet said. “But I live within a society and a culture that it very easily could be me, it very easily could be a friend, a family member and frankly it happens to so many women and men that it’s just not an issue that can be swept under the rug anymore.”
Gutberlet said the significance of these sexual allegations are minimized in light of the partisan views that have defined the context in which they were examined. For her, it was a poorly constructed stage for the truth to be discovered.
“Unfortunately, you see the system on both sides of the aisle using it to their advantage,” she said.
Justin Coury, secretary of the University of Maryland College Republicans, said he believes the protests are baseless, citing the FBI’s lack of evidence to prove the allegations against Kavanaugh.
“When people protest or whatever against him, it’s confusing because there’s literally not been evidence to date that justifies it…” the junior mechanical engineering major said.
Coury said that many of the executive board members of the College Republicans feel the same way.
“We don’t doubt that something horrible happened to Dr. Ford or the other women, but there’s just nothing supporting that it was Kavanaugh,” he said.
At Georgetown Preparatory School, which Kavanaugh attended during the time of Ford’s alleged sexual assault, many students perceive the negative reactions toward him as unfair.
“I feel like it’s a little bit biased but no one is on Christine Ford’s side, as far as I know…,” said AJ Zamora, a Georgetown Prep alum. “But I’ve heard some alumni who are kind of against him.”
Zamora, a freshman communications major, said that his first impression was to believe Ford until the FBI’s weeklong investigation resulted in no evidence.
“He definitely needs to be investigated more,” he said. “But the way he was treated and the whole situation was blown out of proportion.”
Rev. James R. Van Dyke, president of Georgetown Prep, sent out a schoolwide letter on Sept. 21, to address the “elitist” and “uncaring” public perception of the school and to “evaluate” the school’s culture, claiming it does not breed a sense of entitlement among its students.
Van Dyke did not directly address Kavanaugh’s controversy in the letter but said this is a “challenging time” for the school.
Zamora referenced fellow alumnus John Besche, who wrote an op-ed for the Yale Daily News that criticized Van Dyke’s denial of the school’s privileged nature and asked “what it is about Georgetown Prep that enabled and continues to cultivate a Brett Kavanaugh.”
Photo courtesy of Mobilus In Mobili.