Kavanaugh’s yearbook page is ‘hurtful’ to a woman it named

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 Alumnus.”

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 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 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 Kavanaugh and his teammates. “I can’t express how disgusted I am with them, then and now.”

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

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

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

“I learned about these yearbook pages only a few days ago,” Dolphin said. “I don’t know what ‘Renate Alumnus’ actually means. I can’t begin to comprehend what goes through the minds of 17-yearold 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 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.”

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.