Georgetown Preparatory School in North Bethesda might soon have two of its graduates sitting on the U.S. Supreme Court.
President Donald Trump on Monday nominated Brett Kavanaugh of the Class of 1983 to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy. Justice Neil Gorsuch, who joined the court last year, overlapped with Kavanaugh for two years at Georgetown Prep, graduating in 1985.
Kavanaugh, who lives with his family in the Village of Chevy Chase, gave the school a shout-out in his speech Monday at the White House.
“The motto of my Jesuit high school was, ‘Men for others.’ I have tried to live that creed,” Kavanaugh said.
Kavanaugh played on Georgetown Prep’s varsity basketball and football teams and wrote for the school’s newspaper, the Little Hoya, according to a news release.
“As a Jesuit institution, we really aim to build the mind, body and soul,” Georgetown Prep spokesman Patrick Coyle said Tuesday in a phone interview. “At Georgetown Prep, [Kavanaugh] was an excellent student and captain of the varsity basketball team. … That shows his well-roundedness, and that’s exactly what we’re trying to get out of students at Prep.”
Georgetown Prep, founded in 1789, is a college-preparatory school for boys in grades nine through 12 and currently enrolls about 485 students.
In a news release, the school’s president said he’d met Kavanaugh in May at an alumni business network event.
“[H]e is a proud Prep alumnus and holds the school in the highest regard. Judge Kavanaugh has Georgetown Prep’s prayers and support as he faces the confirmation process,” the Rev. James R. Van Dyke, S.J., said in a news release.
Kavanaugh has a number of other local ties. His wife, Ashley Estes Kavanaugh, is town manager of Chevy Chase Village, and his mother, Martha Kavanaugh, was a Montgomery County judge, according to WAMU and CBS News. Martha Kavanaugh was on the Montgomery County Circuit Court bench from 1995 to 2001.
Bethany Rodgers can be reached at bethany.rodgers@moco360.media.
