Earlier this month, a former white law student at Howard University Law School filed a discrimination lawsuit alleging a “hostile educational environment.”
Plaintiff Michael Newman is accusing the HBCU’s faculty and staff of retaliation, disparate treatment, defamation, and “intentional infliction of emotional distress.”
The lawsuit claims that Newman allegedly suffered “depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts” due to “public ostracism, vilification, and humiliation.” At one point, global head of diversity recruiting Reggie McGahee allegedly told Newman “he had become the most hated student McGahee had seen during his tenure at the university.”
In addition to suing the University, Newman, who is seeking $2 million in damages, named Howard University President Wayne A. I. Frederick, Law School Dean Danielle R. Holley, and several other administrators as defendants in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit states that “Faculty and administrators fomented racial animosity toward Newman by endorsing some classmates’ views that his comments on matters of public concern or advocacy for political and social changes were insensitive, offensive, or racist, and by endorsing the view that classmates’ derogatory comments regarding Caucasians and derogatory epithets were acceptable.”
“The University is prepared to vigorously defend itself in this lawsuit as the claims provide a one-sided and self-serving narrative of the events leading to the end of the student’s enrollment at the University,” said Frank Tramble, vice president, and chief communications officer for Howard University. “Mr. Newman came to Howard having had a career outside of law and was granted a University scholarship. Mr. Newman then displayed a pattern of antagonizing actions against other students in the law school.”
“This includes Mr. Newman using the untimely death of a fellow law student to further his views on COVID-19 and the vaccines,” Tramble continued. “After following the University’s disciplinary policies, Mr. Newman was expelled for disruptive and harassing conduct.”
Following a series of incidents that led up to his expulsion in September 2022, Howard University is accused of breaching its contract with Newman, who claims that the university gave him a $26,250.00 scholarship for three years.
One of those incidents included a classmate discovering and retweeting a tweet from Newman’s personal Twitter account that featured a picture of an enslaved Black person with severe whipping scars on his back.
The tweet read: “But we don’t know what he did before the picture was taken.”
The lawsuit alleges that Newman insisted that this tweet wasn’t meant to be disrespectful. However, according to Newman, his tweet was intended as a joke “in response to Americans who attempt to explain away videos of police brutality by claiming that the victim must have committed wrongdoing… .”
During another incident, Newman found himself the target of his classmate’s animosity following a comment he posted on the app GroupMe in October 2020.
“Where I part with the Black community is where they believe government solves problems, I only see it causing problems,” Newman wrote in the chat. According to the lawsuit, he asked for 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.”
Newman further claimed that he was ridiculed for wanting to understand the perspectives and experiences of Black Americans.
On January 26, 2021, he claimed to have emailed President Frederick and Dean Holley “requesting assistance from Howard administration to address racial discrimination,” as well as “reassurances” that White and Black students are treated equally. Holley is said to have requested a meeting with Newman after Frederick didn’t respond to the email he sent about the attached exchange between him and some classmates calling him the “Mayo king.”
According to the lawsuit, Newman continued to have negative interactions with the dean after Holley suggested he transfer to another school.
Despite Newman’s protests that “secret evidence” was used against him, a panel ultimately ruled that he should be expelled.
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