Maine Sen. Susan Collins continues to receive pushback for her vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh — this time from alumni and faculty of her alma mater, St. Lawrence University.

According to a CBS News report, more than 1,800 alumni and dozens of faculty members at the small liberal arts university in New York have signed onto a campaign demanding that university administrators rescind an honorary degree conferred on Collins in 2017. Collins, a Republican, received a bachelor’s degree from St. Lawrence University in 1975 but also holds honorary degrees from the institution.

One of the letters said that Collins’ vote in support of Kavanaugh demonstrated a lack of “the integrity and commitment to justice that we expect from the St. Lawrence body,” CBS reported on Tuesday. The letter also called on university officials to rescind the honorary degree “in support of truth and for all of the victims of sexual assault and violence, of which many of her fellow alumni and students have suffered.”

Dozens of St. Lawrence University faculty members have reportedly signed onto a separate letter.

Collins’ office did not respond to a CBS News request for comment.

As a swing vote on the Kavanaugh nomination, Collins was the target of intense pressure for weeks from constituents and interest groups as well as protests in Maine and Washington, D.C.

Advertisement

Collins ultimately supported the nominee after she said an additional FBI investigation into allegations that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted a woman in high school failed to produce any additional corroborating evidence. Explaining her vote in a 40-minute speech watched around the nation, Collins said that while she believed Kavanaugh’s accuser was a victim of sexual assault, she said the lack of evidence should not keep Kavanaugh from the court given the country’s long-standing tradition of a presumption of innocence.

Since the vote, Collins has said she’s heard from many constituents in Maine who supported her decision. But a liberal crowdfunding site says it has raised more than $3.7 million to support a future Democratic opponent to Collins in 2020, and on Monday police and federal investigators responded to her Bangor home after she received a letter claiming it was laced with the deadly toxin ricin. An initial investigation found no threat, however..

CBS News quoted a university spokesman, Ryan P. Deuel, as saying St. Lawrence University does not take political position.

“Throughout its long history, St. Lawrence University has never rescinded any earned or honorary degree, and it has no intention of doing so in this situation,” Deuel told the network

President Donald Trump shakes hands with Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, second from left, as he walks to a desk to sign the ‘Patient Right to Know Drug Prices Act’ and ‘Know the Lowest Price Act of 2018,’ during a ceremony in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018.  (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

 

Comments are no longer available on this story