Over 1,500 alumni from U.S. Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett’s alma mater signed a letter of concern over the conservative lawyer and judge’s pending appointment to become the next court justice.
Barrett graduated in 1994 with honors from Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn., CBS News reported.
Rhodes President Marjorie Hass lauded Barrett in a statement on Sept. 22 for her “professional distinction and achievement,” after President Trump nominated her to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died last month from pancreatic cancer.
Following Hass’s statement, alumni Rob Marus and Katherine Morgan Breslin wrote a critical letter over Barrett’s stances on abortion law, the LBGTQ community and the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
“We are likewise firmly and passionately opposed to Rhodes administrators’ attempts to embrace Amy Coney Barrett as an alumna of our beloved alma mater,” the letter said. “We oppose this embrace because we believe both her record and the process that has produced her nomination are diametrically opposed to the values of truth, loyalty, and service that we learned at Rhodes.”
Barrett’s nomination to replace Ginsburg, an abortion rights supporter and trailblazer for women’s rights, brought praise from conservatives but raised concerns among liberals and Democrats. She said in 2016 if Roe v. Wade were overturned or weakened, its “core holding” that women have a right to abortion would not change.
The letter also directly called attention to the ACA’s fate, which is slated to be contested in a Supreme Court trial on Nov. 10 over whether some provisions of the act may remain law.
Hass responded to the alumni letter, standing by her previous praise of Barrett, but adding, “I hope that your letter — as well as the support, dissent, and attention it has generated — serves as a spur for robust engagement with the political process.”