Student Rights

Kimberly Diel, a University of Tennessee pharmacy student, recently filed a first amendment lawsuit against the school, alleging the university expelled her because she posted on her private, personal social accounts the school deemed too sexual.  The pharmacy school complained that this was “unprofessional.”  It is all too common that professional schools or special programs claim a greater right to…

Judge Michael Shea of the Federal District Court of Connecticut has ordered the University of Connecticut to pay Attorney Michael Thad Allen over $63,000 in reasonable attorney fees due to the university’s violation of a student’s due process rights in a sexual misconduct hearing. Attorney Allen sued on behalf of “John Doe” after the University of Connecticut suspended him for…

In December, the U.S. Department of Education announced the implementation of a new “free speech hotline” for students and faculty members to file complaints about free speech violations at colleges and universities. The “hotline” is not so much a hotline in the traditional sense.  Instead an email account freespeech@ed.gov managed by attorneys from the Office of General Counsel for the…

The topic of free speech is one of the most contentious issues in liberal societies.Many people know that free speech is enshrined in the First Amendment but there’s still a lot about it that many still misunderstand so let’s read on. The widespread protests surrounding issues of systemic racism have been a significant part of this year’s news cycle, even…

With widespread protests around the nation in the wake of the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, free speech of and on campus is once again at the forefront.  Even though almost all schools are now closed, and almost all speech and the actions of students and faculty are now taking place off campus, school administrators have…

Title IX is a federal law that prohibits sex discrimination.Courts have consistently found that student-on-student sexual harassment is sex-based discrimination and that the university can be held responsible for it if the university remains “deliberately indifferent.” This means paying students damages if they are victimized on campus, but the University sits on its hands. However, holding a university responsible for…

In February 2019, three female Yale students, Anna McNeil ’20, Ry Walker ’20 and Ellie Singer ’21, filed a lawsuit against Yale University, arguing that fraternities should be required to admit women and nonbinary students under Title IX as well as the Fair Housing Act. In May 2019, an on-campus group named Engender, which fights for gender integration in on-campus…

Plaintiffs claiming they were wrongly expelled for false allegations of sexual misconduct in colleges and universities have repeatedly challenged so-called “trauma informed” interview techniques. Their challenges most often fail: three times in the Federal District Court of Colorado and once each in the Southern District Court of Iowa, the Southern District of Ohio, and District of New Jersey. Even where…

Three Lessons For Victims Of Campus Sexual Assault In The Purdue University Case At the end of June as the dog days of summer began, a three-Judge panel, all women judges of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, ruled against Purdue University. The Appeals Court decided in favor of a male student who sued Purdue under Title IX for discriminating against…

The Attorneys General of 18 states collectively submitted an extensive 72-page comment opposing rules proposed by the Department of Education for Title IX, the federal statute prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex in education.  Led by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (Josh Shapiro), California (Xavier Becerra), and New Jersey (Gurbir S. Grewal), these chief legal officers of their respective states…