田纳西州孟菲斯——1994年，美国最高法院提名人艾米·科尼·巴雷特以优异成绩毕业于田纳西州孟菲斯的罗兹学院。但这所小型文科学校的1500多名校友表示，他们对自己与保守派律师和法官的关系并不感到自豪。
巴雷特以优异成绩毕业，获得英语本科学位。她是荣誉委员会的成员，并被命名为学生名人堂。罗德斯岛总统马乔里·哈斯(Marjorie Hass)在随后发表的一份声明中说，巴雷特在圣母院法学院的下一站之后，建立了一个“职业卓越和成就”的职业生涯唐纳德·特朗普提名巴雷特接替已故的大法官鲁斯·巴德·金斯伯格。
声明的日期是9月22日。不久之后，罗兹校友罗布·马鲁斯和凯瑟琳·摩根·布雷斯林写了一封信，批评巴雷特在堕胎法、LBGTQ社区和《平价医疗法案》上的立场。这封信由1513名校友签名并张贴在网上，信中说校友们“坚定而热情地反对她的提名”，宣称巴雷特没有代表他们的观点和价值观。
信中说:“我们同样坚定而热烈地反对罗兹奖学金管理人员试图接纳艾米·科尼·巴雷特为我们敬爱的母校的校友。”我们反对这种拥抱，因为我们相信她的记录和她的提名过程与我们在罗兹学到的真理、忠诚和服务的价值观完全相反。"
巴雷特被提名接替9月18日去世的堕胎权利支持者和自由派偶像金斯伯格，迅速引起了共和党和保守派的赞扬——以及自由派和民主党的沮丧。对立双方纷纷发表支持或反对任命巴雷特的声明，巴雷特目前是芝加哥联邦上诉法院的法官。
在巴雷特时代之前，这所拥有宏伟校园和2000名学生的学校已经与最高法院建立了联系。哈斯说，1930年毕业的艾毕·福塔斯成为了一名法官，罗兹的毕业生成为了法官助理，并担任联邦法官。罗兹还主持了现任法官斯蒂芬·布雷耶(Stephen Breyer)和已故法官安东宁·斯卡利亚(Antonin Scalia)的校内会谈。
哈斯在声明中说:“科尼·巴雷特法官参与了这一优秀学术传统。”。
巴雷特的堕胎观点是一个特别的争论点。作为一名上诉法官，巴雷特在堕胎问题上至少投票两次，两次都加入了支持堕胎权利的决定的反对意见。
罗兹校友信由早在1959年毕业的学生和一些认识巴雷特并在她毕业班的人签名。它表示担心她可能会投票推翻或“严重限制”罗伊诉韦德案，这是1973年最高法院宣布堕胎为宪法权利的里程碑式的裁决。
这封信指责她回避了如果堕胎案件在最高法院受到质疑她将如何裁决的问题。它声称，她回避了关于她对男女同性恋、双性恋和变性者群体的立场以及她与一个反同性恋、双性恋和变性者群体的所谓联系的问题。
“艾米·科尼·巴雷特一再隐瞒她自己的观点和过去的联系，”信中说。它补充说，巴雷特“展示了一种司法哲学和记录，未能服务和保护我们社会中的弱势群体，包括移民、刑事司法系统中的人和依赖《负担得起的医疗法案》的个人。”
在校友信后的随后声明中，哈斯鼓励“罗兹社区的所有成员勇敢面对这一时刻，为正义而说话、行动和投票。”
哈斯写道:“我希望你的信——以及它所带来的支持、异议和关注——能够激励人们积极参与政治进程。”。她坚持她的前一封信和公开评论，赞扬巴雷特在罗兹的“杰出的学术成就记录”。
“学院将继续以尊重和友谊的态度谈论她，”哈斯写道。后来，她补充说，她“很高兴重申我自己的承诺和学院的承诺，反对偏见，支持少数和边缘化学生和校友的权利。”
巴雷特对这封信没有公开评论。
特朗普在周二与民主党挑战者乔·拜登(Joe Biden)的辩论中表示，他不知道巴雷特对罗伊诉韦德(Roe v. Wade)一案的看法，金斯伯格去世三天后，他们在白宫会面时没有与她讨论这些看法。
校友信的合著者马鲁斯告诉美联社，在不同意巴雷特和特朗普的潜在和现任学生看来，这封信的签名令人不安，并担心大学的声誉可能会受到损害。他称她的观点是“老古董”，并补充说一些校友害怕巴雷特被终身任命到法院。
“我们认为是时候说出来了，”马鲁斯说。“我们从未想过要改变参议院对她的投票方式。我们想影响的是公众对罗兹的看法，我们在那里接受的教育。”
Alumni at Barrett's undergrad school sign letter of concern
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- U.S. Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett graduated in 1994 with honors from Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. But more than 1,500 alumni of the small liberal arts school have made it known they are not proud of their ties to the conservative lawyer and judge.
Barrett graduated magna cum laude with an undergraduate degree in English. She was a member of the Honor Council and named to the Student Hall of Fame. After her next stop at Notre Dame's law school, Barrett built a career of “professional distinction and achievement,” said Rhodes president Marjorie Hass, in a statement issued after PresidentDonald Trumpnominated Barrett to replace the late JusticeRuth Bader Ginsburg.
The statement was dated Sept. 22. Soon after, Rhodes alumni Rob Marus and Katherine Morgan Breslin wrote a letter criticizing Barrett's stances on abortion law, the LBGTQ community and the Affordable Care Act. Signed by 1,513 alumni and posted online, the letter says the alumni are “firmly and passionately opposed to her nomination," declaring Barrett fails to represent their views and values.
“We are likewise firmly and passionately opposed to Rhodes administrators’ attempts to embrace Amy Coney Barrett as an alumna of our beloved alma mater,” the letter said. “We oppose this embrace because we believe both her record and the process that has produced her nomination are diametrically opposed to the values of truth, loyalty, and service that we learned at Rhodes.”
Barrett's nomination to replace Ginsburg, an abortion rights supporter and liberal icon who died Sept. 18, swiftly elicited praise from Republicans and conservatives — and dismay from liberals and Democrats. Opposing sides rained down statements for or against appointing Barrett, currently a Chicago-based federal appeals court judge.
Before Barrett's time, the school with the stately campus and a total enrollment of about 2,000 students already had a Supreme Court connection. Abe Fortas, class of 1930, became a justice, and Rhodes graduates have clerked for justices and serve as federal judges, Hass said. Rhodes also has hosted on-campus talks by sitting Justice Stephen Breyer and the late Justice Antonin Scalia.
“Judge Coney Barrett participates in this tradition of academic excellence,” Hass' statement said.
Barrett's abortion views are a particular point of contention. Barrett voted at least twice on abortion issues as an appellate judge, both times joining dissenting opinions to decisions that favored abortion rights.
The Rhodes alumni letter was signed by students who graduated as far back as 1959, and some who knew Barrett and were in her graduating class. It expresses concerns that she might vote to overturn or “seriously curtail” Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court ruling that declared abortion a constitutional right.
The letter accuses her of sidestepping questions about how she would rule if the abortion case were challenged before the Supreme Court. And it claims she has deflected questions about her stance toward the LGBTQ community and her alleged association with an anti-LBGTQ group.
“Amy Coney Barrett has repeatedly shaded the truth about her own views and past associations,” the letter said. It added that Barrett "has demonstrated a judicial philosophy and record that fails to serve and protect the vulnerable in our society, including immigrants, those in the criminal justice system, and individuals reliant on the Affordable Care Act."
In a subsequent statement following the alumni's letter, Hass encouraged “all members of the Rhodes community to rise to this moment with courage and to speak, act, and vote in the service of justice.”
“I hope that your letter — as well as the support, dissent, and attention it has generated — serves as a spur for robust engagement with the political process,” Hass wrote. She stood by her previous letter and public remarks praising Barrett’s “exceptional record of academic achievement" at Rhodes.
"The college will continue to speak of her with respect and friendship," Hass wrote. Later, she added, she was “happy to re-affirm my own commitment and the commitment of the college to stand against bigotry and for the rights of minority and marginalized students and alumni.”
Barrett had no public comments on the letter.
Trump said during Tuesday’s debate with Democratic challenger Joe Biden that he doesn’t know Barrett’s views on Roe v. Wade and didn’t discuss them with her when they met at the White House three days after Ginsburg’s death.
Marus, co-author of the alumni letter, told The Associated Press the letter's signees were upset and concerned the college's reputation could be diminished in the eyes of potential and current students who disagree with Barrett and Trump. He called her views “antediluvian," adding some alumni are terrified of any lifetime appointment for Barrett to the court.
“We thought it was time to speak out,” said Marus. “We never thought we'd change how the Senate voted on her. What we wanted to affect was public perception of Rhodes, the education we received there.”
