Phelps v. Washburn University of Topeka

634 F. Supp. 556, 32 Educ. L. Rep. 966, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 29458
CourtDistrict Court, D. Kansas
DecidedFebruary 10, 1986
DocketCiv. A. 83-4198, 83-4259
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 634 F. Supp. 556 (Phelps v. Washburn University of Topeka) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Phelps v. Washburn University of Topeka, 634 F. Supp. 556, 32 Educ. L. Rep. 966, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 29458 (D. Kan. 1986).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

THEIS, District Judge.

This matter is presently before the Court on defendants’ motion for summary judgment. In Case No. 83-4198, Katherine R. Phelps, Rebekah A. Phelps and Timothy B. Phelps allege they were denied admission to the Washburn University School of Law, in violation of 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981,1983,1985 and 2000d, and the first and fourteenth amendments. Specifically, the Phelps claim that the defendants discriminated against them in retaliation for plaintiffs’ association with the cause of blacks, plaintiffs’ association with the law firm of Phelps-Chartered and plaintiffs’ association with their father, Fred W. Phelps, Sr. In Case No. 83-4259, Timothy Phelps alleges the same statutory and constitutional violations. He contends that he was retaliated against for filing the previous suit by not being admitted to Washburn Law School’s Fall 1983 class from the waiting list.

The Court is familiar with the standards governing consideration of a motion for *558 summary judgment. Summary judgment may be granted only if “there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and ... the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). The Court must look at the record in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Lindley v. Amoco Production Co., 639 F.2d 671, 672 (10th Cir.1981); Prochaska v. Marcoux, 632 F.2d 848, 850 (10th Cir.1980), cert. denied, 451 U.S. 984, 101 S.Ct. 2316, 68 L.Ed.2d 841 (1981). Furthermore, before summary judgment may be granted, the moving party must establish its entitlement to summary judgment beyond a reasonable doubt. Ellis v. El Paso Natural Gas Co., 754 F.2d 884, 885 (10th Cir.1985). Summary judgment should not be granted if circumstantial evidence or factual inferences tend to establish genuine issues for trial. Barber v. General Electric Co., 648 F.2d 1272, 1278 (10th Cir.1981). While summary judgment should be granted with particular caution in discrimination cases where questions of intent are involved, Raby v. General Electric Co., No. 81-1632 (D.Kan., unpublished, October 5, 1984), a party resisting a motion for summary judgment must do more than advance conclusory allegations; it must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial. Dart Industries, Inc. v. Plunkett Co., 704 F.2d 496, 498 (10th Cir.1983).

In response to defendants’ well-documented motion, the plaintiffs have submitted affidavits and exhibits attesting to “facts” which consist primarily of hearsay and conclusory allegations. In their voluminous submission, the plaintiffs have not controverted the following material facts.

The plaintiffs, Katherine, Rebekah and Timothy Phelps, are the natural children of Fred W. Phelps, Sr. The plaintiffs are white. All of the plaintiffs have worked for the law firm of Phelps-Chartered. Fred W. Phelps, Sr., and several of his children, Fred W. Phelps, Jr., Margie Phelps, Shirley Phelps-Roper, Jonathan B. Phelps, and Elizabeth Phelps, were admitted to, attended and were graduated from Washburn University School of Law. Timothy Phelps was admitted to and is now attending Washburn University School of Law. The individual defendants hold the following positions at the university and law school: John Green is the President of Washburn University; Carl Monk is the Dean of the Washburn University School of Law; Bill Rich is the Associate Dean of the law school and is Chairperson of the Admissions Committee of the Washburn School of Law; Carol Vogel is the Affirmative Action Director for the university.

The Washburn Law School’s admissions process for 1983 operated as follows. Applicants for the Fall 1983 class were required to submit an application form, letters of reference and a report from the Law School Data Assembly Service (LSDAS). The LSDAS report contained the applicant’s score on the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) and the applicant’s undergraduate grade point average (UGPA), as calculated by the LSDAS from the student’s college transcript according to a standardized method.

The authority to make decisions concerning admissions to the law school was delegated by the dean to the associate dean and the admissions committee. The dean exercised no veto power over the decisions of the committee. The admissions committee was composed of five faculty members selected by the dean of the law school and two students, who were selected by the President of the Student Bar Association. Associate Dean Rich, one of the five faculty members, chaired the committee.

Before considering any applications for the 1983 class, the admissions committee determined two initial cutoffs, which established three categories of admissions files. The UGPA and LSAT scores demarcated these initial cutoffs. The first category was comprised of applicants whose UGPA and LSAT scores were sufficiently high to qualify them for automatic admission, subject only to a review to determine that their applications were complete and that they had satisfied all legal prerequisites for admission to the law school. The second class of applicants consisted of those whose *559 UGPA and LSAT scores were so low that the applicants would not ordinarily have been admitted. Nevertheless the associate dean reviewed these files to determine whether any factors other than the UGPA and LSAT indicated that the applicant should be considered further. The third category included applicants whose UGPA and LSAT scores fell between the cutoffs for the high and low groups.

Approximately forty percent of the files were placed in the first group of high UGPA and LSAT scores. Fifteen to twenty percent of the applications fell into the low category. The remaining approximately forty percent of the files were included in the third or middle category.

The applications falling into the middle category were reviewed by the admissions committee. The chairperson reviewed all of the files. The six remaining committee members were split into two groups, each with two faculty members and one student member. One group read all of the files of applicants whose last names began the letters A through K. The second group read the files of applicants whose last names began with the letters L through Z. Each committee member rated each file he or she read on a scale of 1 (low) to 5 (high).

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634 F. Supp. 556, 32 Educ. L. Rep. 966, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 29458, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/phelps-v-washburn-university-of-topeka-ksd-1986.