Grove v. OHIO ST. UNIV., COLLEGE OF VET. MED.

• Decision Date: 16 December 1976
• Docket Number: No. C-2-75-829.,C-2-75-829.
• Citation: 424 F. Supp. 377
• Parties: Jack Frederick GROVE, Plaintiff, v. The OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY, COLLEGE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Ohio

424 F. Supp. 377

Jack Frederick GROVE, Plaintiff, v. The OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY, COLLEGE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE, et al., Defendants.

No. C-2-75-829.

United States District Court, S. D. Ohio, E. D.

December 16, 1976.

John F. Holcomb, Hamilton, Ohio, for plaintiff.

William J. Brown, Atty. Gen., G. Ross Bridgman, Vorys, Sater, Seymour & Pease, Columbus, Ohio, for defendants.

OPINION AND ORDER

KINNEARY, District Judge.

Plaintiff in this action is attacking the admissions procedure and practice at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Ohio State University. He has made three unsuccessful attempts to obtain admission to the entering class at this facility, conforming in each instance exactly to the format specified by the bulletin of information published by the college. He now alleges that the college, its dean, and its assistant dean denied him due process of law in reaching an admissions decision, deprived him of equal protection of the law by admitting other, less qualified students in his place and made certain promises intending to induce action on his part, which action was indeed induced. The first two resulted in claimed violations of Title 42, United States Code, Sections 1983 and 2000d. The plaintiff has asked this Court to grant him affirmative relief in the form of an instruction to the defendant college to enroll plaintiff in its fall, 1976, entering class, and for damages in the amount of $50,000.00 to compensate him not only for the deprivations referred to above but also for the time lost pursuing a degree in reliance on the alleged promises of the defendants. This case was tried to the Court on September 27, 1976. Pursuant to Rule 52(a), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, this Court now makes the following findings of fact and conclusions of law.

Findings of Fact

1. Jack Frederick Grove, plaintiff in this action, is a white male citizen of Ohio.

2. Defendants are The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine College, its dean, C. Roger Smith, and its assistant dean, Walter G. Venzke.

3. Plaintiff matriculated as an undergraduate student at Ohio State University in September, 1971. During his first quarter in college, plaintiff scored three "Ds", two in math courses and one in chemistry.

4. The admissions procedure of the College has at all times relevant to this action required submission of the applicant's overall grade-point average, his average in selected pre-professional courses, and the results of an interview with two members of the six-member admissions committee.

5. Beginning with the entering class of 1975, the admissions committee required also the submission of the scores achieved on the Veterinary Aptitude Test (VAT). This is an objective-type test designed to measure ability in certain cognate areas determined to be necessary to the study of veterinary medicine.

6. Defendants' standard practice, which was followed here, is to subject each applicant to an initial screening process. Some fifty percent of the applications received are rejected at this stage.

7. One of the reasons for rejection at the initial screening is failure to meet one or both of the cut-off standards set by the committee. These are a cumulative undergraduate average of 3.0 and a score on the VAT in the 80th percentile.

8. Students whose scores do not meet these initial standards may avoid rejection at this stage by requesting a personal interview. Students meeting these standards will automatically be interviewed.

9. The interviews are conducted by two members of the admissions committee, one of which is always either the dean or the assistant dean. The interviews are conducted separately and last about thirty minutes for each of the two interviewers.

10. The purpose of the interviews is primarily to ascertain the stage of the applicant's affective development and offer the applicant an opportunity to explain negative factors in his record. Consideration is given to the applicant's personality, professional bearing, interest in the veterinary profession, and experience with animals. The interviews are rated by each interviewer separately on a standard evaluation form. Samples of these forms were admitted into evidence as Joint Exhibits If, Ig, In and Io.

11. Where the two interviewers disagree on whether or not the applicant should be admitted, the matter is referred to the entire admissions committee for consideration. Additional interviews may be scheduled if they are deemed expedient.

12. On the basis of these interviews and the applicant's test scores and scholastic averages, 130 successful applicants are selected and a waiting list is prepared.

13. Any openings among the 130 applicants offered admission are filled from the waiting list.

14. The evaluative material submitted by each applicant is weighted as follows in reaching a determination as to admission:

                Personal interview . . . . . .   45%
                Quantitative factors (VAT
                grade-point averages, etc.). .   55%
                

15. In February and March, 1973, while plaintiff was a sophomore, he applied for admission to the College of Veterinary Medicine. His interviews were conducted by Robert Hamlin, a professor of veterinary physiology who was at that time on the admissions committee, and defendant Venzke.

16. Hamlin testified that at the conclusion of the interview he determined that plaintiff was qualified for admission "now or next year." Venzke concluded that he was a "great prospect for '74."

17. Plaintiff was denied admission into the 1973 entering class on the grounds that he lacked five quarter hours of elective courses. He was notified that upon completion of this requirement he could reapply for admission into the 1974 entering class. Joint Exhibit Ix.

18. During the month of October 1973 plaintiff prepared a second application for admission into the College of Veterinary Medicine. Again, an interview was conducted, this time by Dr. Marion Scothorn, a member of the admissions committee, and defendant Venzke.

19. Dr. Scothorn's evaluation of plaintiff assigned him a rating of 80 out of a possible 100. Defendant Venzke, using the same evaluation form, arrived at a rating of 72.

20. Neither interviewer made any comments with regard to plaintiff, but both selected the "strongly recommend" category for plaintiff's overall rating.

21. In February, 1974 plaintiff received notice that he had been rejected for admission into the 1974 entering class.

22. Plaintiff sought and obtained a conference with Dr. Venzke in order to ascertain the reasons for his rejection and what corrective measures, if any, could be taken. Plaintiff was told to take more courses in animal science to improve his chances of admission. No indication was given that his deficiency in science and math had in any way affected the decision of the admissions committee.

23. In October and November 1974 plaintiff applied for admission to the college's entering class of 1975. For the first time, plaintiff was required to take the Veterinary Aptitude Test VAT as one of the prerequisites to consideration.

24. Plaintiff took this test in November, 1974 and was ranked in the 55th percentile. On the individual portions of the test, he received percentile rankings of 75 each in reading comprehension, science and verbal memory and 10 in quantitative ability.

25. Since plaintiff's percentile rank of 55 did not meet the cut-off requirement of 80, plaintiff was forced to request a personal interview. This interview was conducted, as before, by two members of the admissions committee: Dr. Venzke, and Dr. Keith Wearly. Ranked on a slightly altered interview form from before, plaintiff received a rating of 81 from Dr. Wearly and 73 from Dr. Venzke.

26. Plaintiff was again rejected. No reason was given in the letter of rejection, but other letters introduced into evidence and testimony adduced at trial suggest that the reason was both the low score on the Veterinary Aptitude Test and the low grades in quantitative courses.

27. In the entering class of 1975, to which plaintiff had sought admission, there were a total of 131 students selected from 907 applicants. In addition, 29 applicants were placed on the "waiting list." None of the successful applicants in this class declined the offer of admission. Plaintiff was not included on the waiting list.

28. Only one minority student, a black, was admitted into the entering class of 1975.

29. At the time of plaintiff's third application, his cumulative grade point average was 3.27 out of a possible 4.00; his grade-point average in selected preprofessional courses was 2.59; his Veterinary Aptitude Test Score was in the 55th percentile; and his average interview score was 76 out of a possible 100.

30. Of the students matriculating in 1975, 21 had cumulative grade-point averages lower than plaintiff's 3.27, one had an average in the selected preprofessional courses lower than plaintiff's 2.59, one had a VAT score lower than plaintiff's 55th percentile, and four had an admissions evaluation score lower than plaintiff's 76. Of the four whose overall evaluation scores were lower, three had VAT scores in the 90th percentile or higher. Plaintiff's Exhibit 21.

31. This Court takes judicial notice pursuant to Rule 201(b), (f), of the Federal Rules of Evidence that the average grade-point average for the entering class of 1975 was 3.53 and that the average grade-point average in preprofessional courses was 3.45.

32. Of the 29 students placed on the waiting list in 1975, 21 had cumulative grade-point averages lower than that of plaintiff, one had a preprofessional grade-point average lower than plaintiff's, two had lower VAT scores, and 13 had lower average interview scores. Eight were lower in two categories, one in three, and one in all four. Again, the Court takes judicial notice that the average cumulative grade-point average of the students on the waiting list is 3.15 and the average preprofessional grade-point average is 3.11.

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