Overviews Rule 23 (Federal Rules of Civil Procedure) governing class actions in the federal courts and analyzes the issues raised in class determinations for employment discrimination suits under Title VII (Civil Rights Act 1964). Discusses damage claim immunity for public institutions and limitations on evidence offered to prove discrimination.…

The Supreme Court's three 1986 decisions and March 1987 decision concerning affirmative action and their implications for hiring, promotion, layoffs, and admissions in higher education institutions are discussed. (MSE)

Reviews court decisions of 1995 concerning issues of immunity for colleges and universities. The 11th Amendment expressly bars suits against states by citizens of other states. Eleventh Amendment immunity and qualified immunity under federal law and developments in state courts are considered. Although 11th Amendment immunity doctrines appear…

A series of recent decisions, largely in federal courts since 1972, are examined for inferences that may encourage institutions to set forth more clearly the conditions that precede dismissal on academic or misbehavior grounds. Guidelines are suggested for administrative procedure and faculty practices such as grading. (JT)

A comment on two court cases gives an overview of the eleventh-amendment analysis, used by some federal courts in suits against state colleges and universities, that argues that the institutions are alter-egos of the state and independent to face suit in federal court. (MSE)

Examines Supreme Court decisions in two cases (Mississippi University for Women v. Hogan, United States v. Virginia), addressing the constitutionality of single-sex public colleges. Describes a tool for evaluating equality (the "capability approach") that fills out and lends clarity to underdeveloped aspects of the Court's inquiry. The…

This article examines a 1993 decision by the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld the right of the Atlanta College of Medical and Dental Careers, Inc., to appeal the U.S. Department of Education's decision to eliminate it from the federal student loan program because of high loan default rates. (MDM)

This paper analyzes "Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) vs. University of Detroit," the first federal circuit court case concerning a college faculty member refusing to pay union dues because of religious beliefs conflicting with purposes for which dues are used. Suggestions for union and institutional response in such…

In discussing the present state of the law concerning judicial review of student expulsion and discipline cases at private colleges and universities and the quest for a satisfactory legal rationale for achieving fundamental fairness in those cases, the author argues that there are nonconstitutional doctrines of public policy and contract law not…

Immunity to prosecution afforded to units and agencies of state government under the eleventh amendment is discussed as it applies to public colleges and universities called as defendants in federal court actions. (MSE)

The merits of student arguments challenging the constitutionality of mandatory student fees to finance certain activities or services are examined and balanced against the public university's interest in providing a forum for the expression of diverse and controversial ideas. (MSE)

A court case comment traces establishment clause educational debates in cases leading to a Supreme Court decision in which it was found that a blind student otherwise eligible for financial aid could not be denied the aid just because the funds were to be used for religious education. (MSE)

Analysis of a Supreme Court case, in which university use of academic freedom as a basis for protecting confidential peer-review documents was rejected, explores the general development and this application of academic freedom doctrine. Individual academic freedom is distinguished from institutional autonomy in protection of the free exchange of…

Federal Supreme Court and appellate court decisions in 1996 concerning discrimination against college students are reviewed. Several decisions deal with diversity and the lawfulness of excluding applicants under a diversity rationale or extending preferences to certain classes of applicants to enhance diversity. Other cases of discrimination based…

The legal theories with which students challenge academic dismissals, the impact of a recent court decision concerning the institution's right to discontinue a student's studies, and various methods to prevent litigation over academic dismissal are reviewed. (MSE)