PUNCH BACK TWICE AS HARD: Swarthmore Backs Down.

Swarthmore College has vacated the findings of a campus judicial process that led to a lawsuit that charged the college with gender-based discrimination against male students accused of sexual misconduct.

The federal judge in the case then agreed to a joint motion from the college and the student (identified only as John Doe) to dismiss the lawsuit, one of several filed by men under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. The suits charge that colleges — facing intense pressure from female students and the U.S. Education Department to crack down on sexual assault — are violating the rights of male students accused of misconduct.

The dismissal of the case does not address the Title IX complaint, but it does represent a dramatic shift for Swarthmore, which has been fighting off the lawsuit and defending the conduct of its investigation and findings in the case.

One of my former law students who practices law in Nashville tried to run one of the HAVE YOU BEEN FALSELY ACCUSED OF SEXUAL ASSAULT? ads I’ve mentioned in the Vanderbilt student paper. They refused to run the ad, apparently because they didn’t want to encourage people to sue Vanderbilt. Without opining on whether that constitutes illegal sex discrimination, I suggested that he try a couple of bus-shelter ads around the campus. These campus policies are pure gold for trial lawyers. . .