Christine Blasey Ford nominated for distinguished alumna award at alma mater

Christine Blasey Ford, the college professor who accused now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault while they were in high school, has been nominated for a distinguished alumna award at her alma mater.

Ford was nominated for the award by a professor at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, where she earned an undergraduate degree in experimental psychology in 1988.

In a letter obtained by The Hill, Jennifer Ho, a professor in the university’s Department of English and Comparative Literature, said Ford did “something that was extraordinary” earlier this year when “she told the truth about a sexual assault she experienced when she was fifteen years old at the hands of Judge Brett Kavanaugh.” 

Ford alleged that she was sexually assaulted by Kavanaugh while they were at a high school party in the 1980s. Kavanaugh has strongly denied the allegations.

Ho dismissed the notion that her nomination of Ford is “about partisan politics” but said it was more about “recognizing that the simple act of speaking one’s truth, especially when that truth involves sexual assault, is an act of bravery.”

“We live in a society that does not believe women,” Ho writes. “The many indignities that women experience in their day-to-day lives is proof of this, as is the continued attacks on Dr. Blasey Ford after her testimony. We know that people who are survivors of sexual assault do not experience justice for their trauma; we know that many of them choose not to report to the police and choose not to reveal their assault out of fear that they will not be believed.” 

Ho went on to say in her nomination letter that the university would send a message to the larger community that “UNC Chapel Hill believes survivors of sexual assault.”

She also said the award would show that the university recognizes “the inordinate courage it took for her to take the moral and ethical stand that she did in testifying about her sexual assault experience in front of the world.”

In a gripping testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee two weeks ago, Ford struggled to retain her composure while testifying that Kavanaugh allegedly put his hand over her mouth and pinned her to a bed while groping her. 

Kavanaugh, who has denied allegations brought against him by Ford and other accusers, is scheduled to hear his first cases as Supreme Court justice starting Tuesday.