OU SAE to sue University of Oklahoma and the University President

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12. Except the code may actually give the students a leg to stand on

This is assuming that the expelled students also sue, which I don't think is the case.


Here's a link to the OU Student Rights and Responsibilities code.

http://www.ou.edu/content/dam/studentlife/documents/AllCampusStudentCode.pdf

Among other things it states that students of the University of Oklahoma are guaranteed certain rights by the Constitutions of the United States and the State of Oklahoma and the University of Oklahoma Student Association. Those documents are controlling and any questions of student rights must be decided on the language contained in those documents.

It also says students have the right to certain procedural due process, including notice and an opportunity to be heard.

On the other hand, while there are a few listed "responsibilities" that could form the basis of a decision to expel, they aren't nearly as clear cut as one might expect. The general "Abusive conduct" standard is probably the strongest leg that the University has to stand on; but even there a good lawyer could bring a substantial challenge based on a claim that the standard is unconstitutionally vague as applied to speech.

I'm happy that these idiots got tossed and that Boren was unequivocal in his damning of their actions and of the fraternity. But if the students sued (and I would be surprised if they did), the most likely outcome would be an out of court settlement (albeit not one that results in the students or fraternity being readmitted to the university).