“The Undergraduate Council stands in solidarity with Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, Deborah Ramirez, Julie Swetnick, and all survivors of sexual violence,” the council wrote in a letter it voted to publish requesting the investigation, the Crimson reported. “We also stand with members of Harvard Law School who request a full and fair investigation into allegations against Judge Kavanaugh before he is allowed back on campus to teach.”

The council voted Sunday night to demand that the Ivy League school launch a probe, according to a report in the Harvard Crimson.

The Harvard Undergraduate Council is calling on university officials to investigate sexual assault allegations leveled at Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh before he’s permitted to return to campus to teach at the law school this winter, the student newspaper reported.


Harvard officials did not immediately respond to a Globe request for comment.

The Harvard Law website on Monday listed Kavanaugh, an appellate judge who’s lectured there since 2008, as scheduled to teach a course in January entitled “The Supreme Court since 2005.”

Ford, Ramirez, and Swetnick have come forward to accuse Kavanaugh of sexual assault and misconduct dating back to his high school and college years in the early 1980s. Kavanaugh has adamantly denied the allegations.

The move from the Harvard Undergraduate Council comes as Harvard Law students have been protesting Kavanaugh’s nomination for days and imploring the university to conduct an investigation.

On Friday, John Manning, the Harvard Law dean, who initially praised Kavanaugh as “an inspiring teacher and mentor” when President Trump nominated him in July, responded publicly for the first time, writing in an e-mail to students that “these have been painful, difficult times for our nation and our community.”

“The Supreme Court confirmation fight has brought into sharp focus questions about sexual assault, fair process, fitness and character for high office, the integrity of the political process, and more,” Manning wrote. “I appreciate the many students who have spoken out and expressed views on these critical issues.”


At the same time, Manning refused to comment on Kavanaugh’s status at Harvard.

“I know that many of you are unsatisfied with the answer that we cannot comment on personnel matters in particular cases,” Manning wrote. “Still, I can provide you this assurance: When concerns and allegations arise about individuals in our teaching program, we take those concerns and allegations seriously, conduct necessary inquiries, complete our process, and then act.”

Several students said last week they were not satisfied with Manning’s response, particularly after Heather Gerken, the dean at Kavanaugh’s alma mater, Yale Law School, released a statement declaring that she, along with the American Bar Association, supports an independent investigation of the assault allegations before a confirmation vote is taken.

“This personnel matter is very personal to us,” said Sejal Singh, a second-year student at Harvard Law, in an interview last week. “We hope Dean Manning will lead — like Yale’s Dean Gerken did — by joining the ABA and calling on the Senate to halt confirmation proceedings until there is a full investigation.”

The Harvard Law website also provides a description of Kavanaugh’s course.

It says students will “analyze and discuss important Supreme Court opinions that have been issued since 2005 when John Roberts became Chief Justice. We will focus on leading decisions within several particular areas of the Court’s post-2005 jurisprudence, including: war powers, campaign finance, religion, the health care law, equal protection/race, Second Amendment, Fourth Amendment, environmental law, marriage, federalism, separation of powers, and the death penalty. In so doing, we will also consider overarching jurisprudential principles such as methods of constitutional and statutory interpretation, the role of the courts in our constitutional structure, and stare decisis.”


Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.andersen@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @TAGlobe.