Corso v. Creighton University, s. 83-2247
| Decision Date | 02 April 1984 |
| Docket Number | Nos. 83-2247,83-2330,s. 83-2247 |
| Citation | 731 F.2d 529 |
| Parties | 17 Ed. Law Rep. 76 Salvatore J. CORSO, Appellee, v. CREIGHTON UNIVERSITY, a Corporation, Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
Frank Matthews, Matthews & Cannon, P.C., Omaha, Neb., for appellee.
Lyle E. Strom, Glenda J. Pierce, Fitzgerald, Brown, Leahy, Strom, Schorr & Barmettler, Omaha, Neb., for appellant.
Before LAY, Chief Judge, HEANEY and BOWMAN, Circuit Judges.
Creighton University, a Nebraska corporation, appeals from the order of the district court enjoining it from expelling Salvatore Corso, a citizen of the State of New York, from the Creighton University School of Medicine. Corso was expelled from the medical school in August, 1982. Corso then brought suit in the federal district court asserting jurisdiction founded on diversity of citizenship. His complaint alleges that the procedure employed by the University to expel him was a breach of contract. The district court, the Honorable C. Arlen Beam presiding, found that Corso had been expelled from the medical school for a nonacademic offense and that the University had not followed its procedures prescribed for the adjudication of nonacademic offenses. Accordingly, the court held that Creighton had breached its contract. The court enjoined the expulsion and ordered the school to afford Corso appropriate procedures prior to taking any final disciplinary action.
On appeal, Creighton contends that the district court erred in classifying the offense as nonacademic. We find that the district court did err in its classification of the offense; however, for the reasons discussed below, we affirm the finding of a breach of contract.
Corso began his first year of medical school in the fall of 1981 at Creighton University. In May, 1982, Corso and several other students were accused of cheating on their first year finals. Corso was first informed of the accusation by a letter he received from Dr. Matthew Severin, Associate Dean for Student Affairs of the School of Medicine. Dr. Severin informed Corso that upon the recommendation of the School of Medicine Committee on Freshman Advancement (Advancement Committee), the Acting Dean of the Medical School, the Reverend James E. Hoff (Father Hoff) had appointed a special committee to investigate the alleged examination irregularities. Based on their evaluations of the examinations and conferences with the accusing professors, the investigatory committee concluded that Corso and another freshman student had collaborated on the relevant exams. Their conclusions were reported to Dr. Severin and the Advancement Committee on June 22, 1982. The Advancement Committee reconsidered the issue and unanimously passed a motion to recommend to the Executive Committee and the Dean that Corso be expelled.
Corso was informed of these proceedings by telephone and a follow-up letter. He was advised that he could respond to the charges in person or by letter. He was to direct his response to Dr. Severin, who would serve as the liaison between Corso and the various committees and the Dean. Corso responded by letter. He denied any involvement in the alleged cheating, requested reconsideration of his case and requested permission for an opportunity to appear before any committee that would make findings concerning his status with the University. On July 6, Corso met with Dr. Severin in Omaha. At this meeting Corso received copies of all the evidence and was told to give any response he may have to Dr. Severin in writing and that it would be transmitted to the Executive Committee. Corso's request to personally appear before the Executive Committee was rejected, and he was informed that it would be of no avail to see the Dean at this point. Corso did respond by letter, again denying any involvement.
Father Hoff then conducted his own investigation, including interviews with 20-25 medical students. Corso was asked to report to the Dean on July 26 and was one of the students interviewed. Corso was asked the same questions as the others; however, at that time he was not told of the other interviews or what they had revealed about Corso. At this interview, Corso again denied any involvement, stating to Father Hoff that "I stand before God and swear, in a state of grace, I have not cheated, colluded or cooperated on ... exams ...." Several others who previously had been interviewed by Father Hoff, however, had admitted that they had collaborated on the relevant examinations and most of them had implicated Corso. Despite relatively equal culpability in the alleged cheating, three of the students involved were suspended; one was given the option of resigning or being expelled; one was placed on probation for "suspicion of cheating"; and one, Corso, was expelled.
The issue on appeal is not whether Corso cheated or whether he lied about his activities; rather, we are concerned with whether the procedures that resulted in Corso's expulsion complied with those provided for in the contract between the parties.
The relationship between a university and a student is contractual in nature. See, e.g., Williams v. Howard University, 528 F.2d 658, 660-61, (D.C.Cir.), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 850, 97 S.Ct. 138, 50 L.Ed.2d 123 (1976). In order to establish his claim, Corso must prove that the University breached a contractual right. 1 For our purposes, the Creighton University Handbook for Students 1981-82 [Student Handbook] is the primary source of the terms governing the parties' contractual relationship. 2 In one part of the section relating to student disciplinary proceedings, the Student Handbook, inter alia, creates two distinct procedural formats for student discipline: one for "academic and academic-related" offenses and the other for "nonacademic" offenses. It then delegates full authority for academic disciplinary matters to the Deans of the particular schools. Nonacademic offenses, however, are handled by officials that are representative of the University as a whole and by the University Committee on Student Discipline (University Committee). The Handbook also elaborates the procedures to be followed by the University Committee in the adjudication of disciplinary matters. 3
The Medical School regarded the matter as an academic disciplinary matter. Accordingly, it handled the matter internally, according to their own procedures, with full authority ultimately placed on Father Hoff, the Acting Dean. The district court, however, determined that Corso had been expelled for his denial of the cheating, i.e., lying, rather than for the cheating itself. This finding was premised primarily on the disparate disciplinary treatment meted out to the students, despite relatively equal culpability in the alleged cheating incident. The court reasoned further that, because lying could accompany any infraction, academic or nonacademic, it was a nonacademic offense. The district court found that Corso was denied some of the procedural safeguards attendant to nonacademic adjudications and that such denial constituted a breach of contract.
We must respectfully disagree with the district court's division of the incident into two distinct disciplinary matters. Cheating on exams is clearly an academic matter, and, in this case, the lying was directly related to the alleged cheating. The alleged cheating and lying together constitute the operative facts of the incident. To adjudicate the lying without regard to the cheating belies the factual context in which the alleged lying occurred. Consequently, we find that it was reasonable for Creighton officials to view the entire incident as an interrelated matter. Because the operative facts were premised on an academic matter, it was reasonable to classify the matter as an academic offense. See Student Handbook, supra n. 3; Board of Curators v. Horowitz, 435 U.S. 78, 98 S.Ct. 948, 55 L.Ed.2d 124 (197...
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