Posted on 03/03/2023 10:29:22 AM PST by george76
A new lawsuit is garnering attention in Washington where a white law student has sued Howard University’s School of Law for racial discrimination. Michael Newman alleging the school maintains a “hostile education environment.” The complaint names Law Dean Danielle Holley as well as other Howard officials in addition to the university as a whole.
Newman joined the freshman class at Howard in the fall semester of 2020 and remained there for two years. He was expelled in September 2022. He alleged that he suffered “depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts” as a result of “public ostracism, vilification and humiliation” due to his race.
The complaint is particularly detailed in what Newman alleges was Holley’s role in this hostile environment. It alleges that Holley told him that the school owed him no First Amendment rights as a private institution and denied that using terms like “King Mayo” and “mayonnaise” were in any way racial epithets. He claims that Holley told student to avoid interacting with him and advised him to avoid further discourse with students.
Global Head of Diversity Recruiting Reggie McGahee allegedly told Newman he had become the most hated student he had seen during his time at Howard.
Newman was targeted by students after he posted thoughts on an online forums following a symposium featuring an African-American speaker in the run-up to the 2020 election. Newman asked a professor if there could be further dialogue on “whether: (1) Black voters didn’t question turning to government for solutions, and (2) reliably voting for the same party every election disincentivized both parties from responding to the needs of the black communities.” The response was highly negative and Newman was removed from at least one of his group chats for the class.
Another flashpoint occurred after a student searched Newman’s social media posting and found a famous picture of a slave baring his badly scarred back with the caption, “But we don’t know what he did before the picture was taken.” Newman explained that this was a posting against police brutality and an attempt to rebut claims that victims must have done something wrong to justify such a reaction.
Newman faced racial slurs as the “mayo king” and “white panther.” Other students claimed that the “controversies” caused by his exercise of free speech was producing stress and inhibiting their learning.
When Newman attempted to explain his views in a four-part letter, it was labeled a “manifesto” and resulted in Newman’s removal from a second class-wide group chat.
Holley is accused of secretly recording at least one meeting with Newman and publicly denouncing Newman’s views in a public forum as “disturbing in every sense of the word.” She allegedly blocked him from using several functions to try and speak up in his defense, even disabling the chat function and turning off his camera.
Holley and Newman filed complaints against each other. A law school panel sided with the dean, but the complaint alleged that his complaint was never adjudicated.
Holley is correct, if as alleged, she denied the governance of the First Amendment over her actions or those of her school. Howard is a private, not a state, school. However, the university guarantees free speech protections for both students and faculty, even though the university has been repeatedly flagged as hostile to free speech due to its speech code. It is ranked 93rd on free speech rights. Moreover, as Dean, Holley should be striving to assure free speech protections for all students as the very foundation for higher education. That is particularly true at a law school that should be instilling the values of free speech that define not just our country but our profession.
“We don’t allow your color, here.”
I see a very large pay day for the student.
I'm guessing that the "highly negative" response was a counter-argument consisting of two letters, the first of which was "F".
If the Harvard School of Law were burned to the ground and its entire staff driven naked into the wilderness America would benefit immensely.
L
HBC.........................
I never understand this stuff. It's just like the court cases where our side never has "standing" no matter what the case is about.
Are federal college loans used by the students? Does that have any impact on First Amendment matters?
The Left is always in a "We win/You lose" position.
I read about that story last week. The college did him wrong in so many ways. Administrators, counselors and those who should be providing professional advice, didn’t want him around because he dared to ask logical questions about how the operate.
The young man was/ is extremely naive and unable to pick up clues from the people around him. He was probably annoying, but he was a paying student, due to the same respect as others. I still don’t know why he chose that college, and did no one advise him about the nature of such colleges?
Unlikely. I knew a math professor who taught at howard in the mid 80s. He was fired for using humor and metaphors in class that the students did not understand, hence they must have been racist. He brought suit against howard and had dreams of a large settlement. I think he is still working at piddling jobs as the settlement never came and getting another teaching job was not going to happen after suing the school.
692.8 million is the Howard University endowment balance as of June 30, 2022.
1 billion seems like a fair amount (to sue for). Call it reparations to all white students discriminated against everywhere.
The case is filed in DC. He probably won’t get a dime.
She’s a white guilter? She doesn’t stand a chance it court. Black is the new white.
Yep DC court DC Judge maybe DC jury. He does not have a prayer.
It’s Howard University in Washington DC.
“If the Harvard School of Law were burned to the ground and its entire staff driven naked into the wilderness America would benefit immensely.”
Agreed.
But why stop there? Columbia University’s School of Law is a good second choice.
We’ll take your money but we don’t want you.
I would no more want a law degree (or an MD) from Howard than I would wish to be wed to Stacy Abrams.
Them too.
L
I see a lawsuit dismissed promptly. The official reason will be blah-bla-bla-bla-blah; the real reason will be that his skin is not the right color.
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