Chapel Hill Connections to Controversy Surrounding Supreme Court Nominee

Majority leader Mitch McConnell said earlier this week that the senate would hold a vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court this week.

Kavanaugh’s nomination has drawn more scrutiny than normal from across the country as he is facing sexual assault allegations and claims that he lied to Congress about a variety of issues.

While the nation watches the confirmation process play out, there have been several local connections. Kavanaugh’s primary accuser is Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. She is now a psychology professor in California. But she spent her undergraduate years locally while earning a bachelor’s degree in experimental psychology from UNC – Chapel Hill in 1988.

Ford accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her at a party when the two were in high school in the early-80s. She testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee for several hours last week on the allegations.

Meanwhile, as an FBI investigation is being conducted to look into allegations from Ford and others against Kavanaugh, another local voice has claimed Kavanaugh misled senators during his testimony when he was questioned on his drinking habits while attending Yale.

Chad Ludington wrote in a statement to the New York Times that he knew Kavanaugh when the two were at Yale and they socialized together “because I was a classmate and varsity basketball player and Brett enjoyed socializing with athletes.”

Ludington is now a professor at North Carolina State University. A 2015 profile of Ludington by The Technician, the university’s student newspaper, identified Ludington as “growing up in an academic family in Chapel Hill.” Social media posts have connected Ludington to Towny Ludington, who taught English and American studies at UNC from the mid-1960s until 2004.

Local state House Representative Verla Insko Tweeted earlier this week that she remembered Ludington being in the same sixth grade class with her son at Estes Hills Elementary School.

I remember Chad Ludington from Estes Hills Elementary in the same 6th grade class as my son (Jr Hi was 7-8). I'm glad to know he is back in NC. Kavanaugh was ‘heavy drinker,’ ‘often belligerent’ at Yale, NC State professor says https://t.co/80WQYNnKR3

— Rep. Verla Insko (@verlainsko) October 1, 2018

Ludington wrote in his statement to the Times that he had “become deeply troubled by what has been a blatant mischaracterization by Brett himself of his drinking at Yale.”

He added that he “cringed” while watching Kavanaugh testify last week about his drinking habits because Ludington felt the nominee did not give a truthful account.

“For the fact is, at Yale, and I can speak to no other times, Brett was a frequent drinker, and a heavy drinker. I know, because, especially in our first two years of college, I often drank with him. On many occasions I heard Brett slur his words and saw him staggering from alcohol consumption, not all of which was beer. When Brett got drunk, he was often belligerent and aggressive.”

While the FBI investigation is ongoing, a confirmation vote for Kavanaugh could be held later this week.

Chapel Hill Connections to Controversial Supreme Court Nomination

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