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‘Renate Alumnius’ raises more questions over Brett Kavanaugh’s school days

Brett Kavanaugh's old school.

Brett Kavanaugh's old school. Photo: New York Times

Brett Kavanaugh’s page in his high school yearbook offers a glimpse of the teenage years of the man who is now President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee: lots of football, plenty of drinking, parties at the beach. Among the reminiscences about sports and booze is a mysterious entry: “Renate Alumnius.”

The word “Renate” appears at least 14 times in Georgetown Preparatory School’s 1983 yearbook, on individuals’ pages and in a group photo of nine football players, including Mr Kavanaugh, who were described as the “Renate Alumni.” It is a reference to Renate Schroeder, then a student at a nearby Catholic girls’ school.

Two of Mr Kavanaugh’s classmates say the mentions of Renate were part of the football players’ unsubstantiated boasting about their conquests.

“They were very disrespectful, at least verbally, with Renate,” said Sean Hagan, a Georgetown Prep student at the time, referring to Mr Kavanaugh and his teammates. “I can’t express how disgusted I am with them, then and now.”

brett kavanaugh

Brett Kavanaugh, Trump’s Supreme Court pick, has been accused of sexual assault when he was a teen. Photo: Getty

Mr Kavanaugh’s years at Georgetown Prep, in a Maryland suburb of Washington, are under intense scrutiny because of allegations by Christine Blasey Ford that he sexually assaulted her during high school. Mr Kavanaugh has denied the allegation. They are scheduled to testify Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Mr Kavanaugh’s peers have given different accounts of what he was like. But his yearbook provides a contemporaneous glimpse of the elite Catholic school’s hard-drinking atmosphere – Mr Kavanaugh’s personal page boasts, “100 kegs or bust” – and a culture that some describe as disrespectful to women.

This month, Renate Schroeder Dolphin joined 64 other women who, saying they knew Mr Kavanaugh during their high school years, signed a letter to the leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is weighing Mr Kavanaugh’s nomination. The letter stated that “he has behaved honourably and treated women with respect.”

When Ms Dolphin signed the September 14 letter, she wasn’t aware of the “Renate” yearbook references on the pages of Mr Kavanaugh and his football teammates.

“I learned about these yearbook pages only a few days ago,” Ms Dolphin said in a statement to The New York Times.

I don’t know what ‘Renate Alumnus’ actually means. I can’t begin to comprehend what goes through the minds of 17-year-old boys who write such things, but the insinuation is horrible, hurtful and simply untrue. I pray their daughters are never treated this way. I will have no further comment.”

Alexandra Walsh, a lawyer for Mr Kavanaugh, said in a statement: “Judge Kavanaugh was friends with Renate Dolphin in high school. He admired her very much then, and he admires her to this day.

“Judge Kavanaugh and Ms Dolphin attended one high school event together and shared a brief kiss good night following that event,” the statement continued. “They had no other such encounter. The language from Judge Kavanaugh’s high school yearbook refers to the fact that he and Ms Dolphin attended that one high school event together and nothing else.”

Ms Dolphin said she had never kissed Kavanaugh. “I think Brett must have me confused with someone else, because I never kissed him,” she said through her lawyer.

In an interview on Fox News on Monday, Mr Kavanaugh defended his high school behaviour in general terms. “People might have had too many beers on occasion and people generally in high school – I think all of us have probably done things we look back on in high school and regret or cringe a bit,” he said.

A White House spokesman, Raj Shah, declined to comment beyond the statement from Kavanaugh’s lawyer.

Four of the men who were pictured with Mr Kavanaugh in a photo captioned “Renate Alumni” said it was simply a reference to their dating or going to dances with Ms Dolphin.

An elite Catholic boys’ high school founded in 1789, Georgetown Prep is known for its motto, “Forming men for others”, a reference to its many alumni who have gone into public service. Justice Neil Gorsuch of the Supreme Court is a graduate, as is Jerome Powell, chairman of the Federal Reserve.

Mr Kavanaugh, a member of the football team and the captain of the basketball team, played a prominent role in Georgetown Prep’s firmament in the early 1980s. The school’s culture was one of heavy drinking and at times insensitivity.

Bill Barbot, who was a freshman at Georgetown Prep when Mr Kavanaugh was a senior, said Mr Kavanaugh and his clique were part of the school’s “fratty” culture. “There was a lot of talk and presumably a lot of action about sexual conquest with girls,” Mr Barbot said.

Ms Dolphin was a subject of that braggadocio, according to Mr Hagan and another classmate, who requested anonymity because he fears retribution. They said Mr Kavanaugh and his friends were seeking to memorialise their supposed conquests with the “Renate” yearbook references.

“She should be offended,” Mr Hagan said of Ms Dolphin. “I was completely astounded when I saw she signed that letter” on Mr Kavanaugh’s behalf.

Some women who knew Mr Kavanaugh at the time defended his conduct.

“These guys weren’t any different than other boys high schools across the country,” said Suzanne Matan, a friend of Mr Kavanaugh’s from their high school days. “And I chose to hang out with those boys and many other girls did, too, because they were fun, and they were safe, and they were respectful.”

The Georgetown Prep yearbook’s personal pages were designed and written by the individual students, according to alumni. A faculty adviser reviewed the pages.

Mr Kavanaugh was one of 13 graduating seniors who referred to Dolphin in some way on their personal pages. Some gave themselves titles — DeLancey Davis, for example, listed himself as “chairman of the Bored” of the “Renate Club.” Another football player, Tom Kane, mentioned on his page “Renate’s Suicide Squad.”

The group photo, with Mr Kavanaugh and eight fellow football players in pads and uniform, grinning, was captioned “Renate Alumni.” Mark Judge, the commentator and author who has written about his alcohol-fuelled years at Georgetown Prep, stands next to Mr Kavanaugh in the photo.

Barbara Van Gelder, a lawyer for Judge, declined to comment.

Four of the players in the “Renate Alumni” photo — Davis, Kane, Tim Gaudette and Don Urgo Jr – said in a statement that they had “never bragged about” sexual contact or anything like that with Ms Dolphin. The statement, issued by Jim McCarthy, a public relations representative, said the yearbook’s “Renate” references “were intended to allude to innocent dates or dance partners and were generally known within the community of people involved for over 35 years”.

“These comments,” the statement continued, “were never controversial and did not impact ongoing relationships until The Times twisted and forced an untrue narrative. This shabby journalism is causing egregious harm to all involved, particularly our friend, and is simply beneath contempt”.

–The New York Times

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