Focus on Yale culture

Why was the essay centered around the culture at Yale rather than the latest accusation against Justice Kavanaugh?

DAO: The essay is a reflection of the book it was drawn from, “The Education of Brett Kavanaugh.” That book, the fruit of nearly a year of research by the authors, explores in a nuanced way the social and cultural forces that shaped Justice Kavanaugh. The Sunday Review essay focused on his time at Yale, when a fellow student, Deborah Ramirez, says he thrust his penis at her during a dorm party. (Justice Kavanaugh has denied the incident occurred.)

The authors’ intent in describing the demographic and cultural changes occurring at Yale then was to provide important context for understanding both Justice Kavanaugh and Ms. Ramirez.

The essay included new information that illuminated the authors’ broader narrative and bolstered their conclusion that, even though Senate investigators concluded her account lacked corroboration, Ms. Ramirez’s claims were in fact credible.

Strength of the accusation

Some readers have argued that the latest accusation against Mr. Kavanaugh was too weak to appear in The Times. Given that the woman who was said to be involved in the incident refused to be interviewed, and her friends have said she doesn’t remember what happened, why did you include that accusation in the essay?

DAO: The essay included a previously unreported claim that friends pushed Mr. Kavanaugh’s penis into the hand of a female Yale student during a dorm party with drunken classmates. During the authors’ investigation, they learned that a classmate, Max Stier, witnessed the event and later reported it to senators and to the F.B.I. The authors corroborated his story with two government officials, who said they found it credible. Based on that corroboration, we felt mentioning the claim as one part of a broader essay was warranted.

Offensive tweet

The Times has since deleted and apologized for an offensive tweet that published with this essay from the Opinion desk’s Twitter account. Can you say anything more about how such an inappropriate tweet went out, and what, if anything, is being done to prevent that from happening again?