Yale Law Dean Expresses Concern Over Professors Caught In Kavanaugh Crosshairs
Brett Kavanaugh and Zina Bash Image by Getty Images
The dean of Yale Law School penned a letter to the school Thursday, in which she expressed concern over reports that professors advised female students preparing for a clerkship interview with Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh on how to dress and act to fit a “certain look,” Talking Points Memo reported.
Heather Gerken encouraged those with similar stories to report any misconduct.
“The Law School has a responsibility to provide a safe environment in which all of our students can live and learn in a community of mutual respect, free of harassment of any kind,” she wrote in the letter.
A former student told HuffPost that Amy Chua, a Yale Law School professor known for her book “The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother,” said Kavanaugh’s clerks “look like models,” and urged her to send pictures of her interview outfit to evaluate. Chua’s husband, professor Jed Rubenfeld, also told the student that Kavanaugh was known to hire female clerks with a “certain look.”
Chua publicly defended Kavanaugh’s nomination in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, “Kavanaugh is a Mentor to Women,” and Chua and Rubenfeld’s daughter recently accepted a clerkship with him.
The law school is currently investigating allegations of Rubenfeld’s misconduct, the Guardian reported Thursday.
Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher
A message from our editor-in-chief Jodi Rudoren
We're building on 127 years of independent journalism to help you develop deeper connections to what it means to be Jewish today.
With so much at stake for the Jewish people right now — war, rising antisemitism, a high-stakes U.S. presidential election — American Jews depend on the Forward's perspective, integrity and courage.
— Jodi Rudoren, Editor-in-Chief
