A student discipline case recently made its
way to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. The case, Schaer v.
Brandeis University, 432 Mass. 474 (2000), involved accusations of rape by one
student against another. At stake for Brandeis were the integrity and
autonomy of its student discipline system. For Schaer, at stake were his
reputation, student records and his future at Brandeis and afterwards.
Fortunately for Brandeis, the court dismissed
Schaer’s complaint, finding that Brandeis had conducted its student
discipline proceedings with “basic fairness” and had met the student’s
“reasonable expectations.” In doing so, the court followed the vast
majority of jurisdictions in granting considerable deference to schools and
colleges in student academic and discipline matters. For private
institutions, courts generally will uphold student discipline decisions where
there was at least some evidence to support the decision, no evidence of
