Keeping Students In Line – Without Repercussions

In 1958, a Brown University senior was expelled because he had the temerity to bring his girlfriend to his dorm room. He did not contemplate litigation. Instead, Ted Turner moved back home to Atlanta to work at his family business and ultimately became a media mogul worth over $2 billion.

A lot has changed in the intervening 60 years. For starters, it is hard to imagine a modern-day college student getting expelled for such a transgression. In addition, it is considerably more likely that students will decide to challenge such discipline in court, a fact confirmed by a significant uptick in the number of lawsuits brought by students challenging the discipline meted out by their schools.