Columbia Law School faced backlash after posting a photo of several students posing for a picture with Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh during a visit to the Supreme Court.
Columbia Law School posted a picture on Instagram from a visit members of the school’s Federalist Society had taken to the Supreme Court, where they had the chance to speak with Kavanaugh.
“On February 23, members of the Columbia Federalist Society (@clsfedsoc) visited the Supreme Court of the United States to engage in conversation with Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh,” the school wrote. “During the visit, they learned about the human side of being a justice, the Court’s deliberation process, and how to be an effective advocate. Justice Kavanaugh also answered questions about a few of his most famous opinions.”
Several student groups criticized the post, with some even saying they will refuse to participate in student recruiting for the time being.
FOX News Digital reported The Columbia chapter of the National Lawyer’s Guild claimed the post tended to advance “white supremacist, patriarchal violence in the law, legal education, and the everyday fabric of U.S. society.”
The Columbia Black Law Students Association (BLSA) posted to Instagram to condemn the Federalist Society photo as well as the university’s response to it.
“This past week, @columbialawschool felt it appropriate to post our Federalist Society meeting with Justice Kavanaugh,” the organization wrote. “We are disgusted by this on multiple fronts, including, but not limited to, him being credibly accused of sexual assault and being an extremist judge dedicating his career to taking rights away from vulnerable Americans.”
The BLSA indicated members of its executive board had been in touch with the university communications department but were disappointed to be “met with responses showing little care and understanding of the extremist judge’s impact on our society.”
The organization called for “the post [to] be removed” and for the law school to express “some understanding of the harm caused,” adding the organization would be “withdrawing from formal involvement in the law school recruitment process,” partly as a response to the law school’s handling of the post.
Another student organization, Empowering Women of Color, wrote it was joining BLSA in withdrawing from student recruiting functions, writing that the organization could not “condone complicity” with the Supreme Court associate justice.