Dean Gerken Statement on Community Response

Today our students, staff, and faculty are engaged in a long-standing Yale Law School tradition as they engage with the most important issues of the day. The allegations of sexual misconduct against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh are rightly causing deep concern at Yale Law School and across the country. Many of our faculty and students have taken actions to raise these concerns about the confirmation process. Fifty members of our faculty have signed a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee, urging the Senate to “conduct a fair and deliberate confirmation process,” and our students have organized a protest and community action that is taking place at Yale Law School and in Washington, D.C., today. Students have worked with the Law School administration and faculty so that the community can come together as a whole to discuss this important moment in our country’s history. As dean, I cannot take a position on the nomination, but I am so proud of the work our community is doing to engage with these issues, and I stand with them in supporting the importance of fair process, the rule of law, and the integrity of the legal system.