Personally, I think the judge is right - nobody says these
kids have to go to Yale anyway. Let'em go to Brandeis or Yeshiva U
if they want an environment more suited to their tastes. Presumably
they know enough not to even apply to a place like Notre Dame,
yet they don't sue the Fightin'Irish for not being sensitive
to their needs..?
http://cnn.com/US/9808/08/yale.lawsuit.ap/
> Judge dismisses lawsuit
> against Yale by Orthodox
> Jewish students
>
> August 8, 1998
> Web posted at: 2:26 a.m. EDT (0626 GMT)
>
> HARTFORD, Connecticut (AP) -- Yale University's policy requiring
> students to live in coed dormitories does not violate the religious
> rights of a group of Orthodox Jewish students, a federal judge ruled.
>
> U.S. District Judge Alfred V. Covello also ruled that the policy did
> not violate federal housing or antitrust laws.
>
> "The plaintiffs could have opted to attend a different college or
> university if
> they were not satisfied with Yale's housing policy," Covello ruled.
>
> The ruling, made July 31, was made public Friday evening when the
> students announced they would appeal to the Second Circuit
> Court of Appeals.
>
> "Yale has discriminated against these students, and they will
> continue to stand up for their rights," attorney Nathan Lewin said.
>
> Yale spokesman Tom Conroy said the university was confident its
> housing policy would be upheld.
>
> "We're very gratified that what we consider a good system and a sound
> educational policy has been upheld by the court," Conroy said. "This
> way we bring together students who might otherwise never meet."
>
> Yale requires freshmen and sophomores to live on-campus, unless they
> are married or over age 21. Freshmen live in residential colleges
> where the sexes are divided by floor, while sophomores
> live in single-sex suites, where members of the opposite sex
> often live next door and sometimes share the same bathrooms.
>
> The Orthodox Jewish students said this policy violates their faith's
> tenets of chastity and modesty.
>
> In 1996, two of the protesting students paid $6,850 each to Yale to
> maintain a dorm room while actually living off campus.
> Last year, they refused to pay the fee.
>
> The four students sought a court order to relieve them of the housing
> requirement and to get Yale to refund fees from the unused dormitory
> rooms. They also wanted the court to rule that Yale's policy is
> illegal, and they sought unspecified damages and attorney's fees.