This is kind of old, but I just saw the link from
http://www.hbcunetwork.com
[ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 10/11/03 ]
Morehouse ordered to pay ex-student $700,000
By BILL MONTGOMERY
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer
A former Morehouse College student expelled three years ago on charges he had pocketed a $7,050 student reimbursement to the college from an out-of-state program has been awarded damages by a Fulton County State Court jury worth nearly 100 times that much.
The jury last week awarded $698,500 to Antonio D. McGaha, a 24-year-old former junior and biology major from Tishomingo, Miss. He was expelled in May 2000 for "acts of dishonesty ... and conduct unbecoming of a Morehouse man."
The jurors found that Morehouse officials violated a contract of good faith, expelling McGaha without allowing him a fair hearing, said his attorney James Dearing Jr.
"I didn't get the consideration they say I did, and that's what the lawsuit was all about," McGaha said in a phone interview from his lawyers' office. "Basically, I got railroaded. I was not a thief."
In a brief prepared statement, Morehouse Dean of Student Services Eddie Gaffney said McGaha was afforded the same process as all students who are accused of violating college policies and regulations. "We do not agree with the verdict in this case and are evaluating the prospects for appeal," he said.
In the fall of 1998, McGaha attended the Biosphere program in Arizona with a financial aid package of around $8,900 sent by Morehouse on behalf of the student, according to court papers.
The Biosphere is a self-contained experiment begun in 1991 as a glass-and- steel domed terrarium staffed by eight people who shared natural resources with 3,800 species of plants and animals. The project today is a 250-acre campus outside Tucson. The project has been administered by Columbia University since 1996.
Dearing, McGaha's attorney, said deductions of $1,850 were taken for room, board and fees and the remaining $7,050 was refunded to McGaha.
Morehouse countered that it paid tuition for McGaha, earmarked for Columbia University. Rather than being paid to Columbia, the money was erroneously given by a Biosphere employee to McGaha. Columbia contacted Morehouse about the non-payment of tuition.
McGaha returned to Morehouse in spring 1999 and no one, for the next year, contacted McGaha about owing money, Dearing said.
On April 28, 2000, McGaha received two letters from Morehouse College. One letter ordered him to attend a hearing May 3 before the College Honor and Review Board. The other said he was expelled. He had four days to appeal.
The board expelled McGaha and told him he could submit a written appeal by May 9, Dearing said.
MaGaha wrote his appeal on May 5, a day before college officials mailed a letter post-dated May 10, informing him his appeal was denied, Dearing said.
Find this article at:
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/met...rehouse.html?u
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