April 7, 2021

Judicial review of a private university's actions.

Courts retain a restricted role in reviewing the determinations that are made by private universities. A determination to impose discipline will be disturbed only when the university acts arbitrarily and not in the exercise of its honest discretion, when it fails to abide by its own rules, or when the penalty is so excessive that one's sense of fairness is shocked. Students at private universities are not afforded the full range of due process rights unless a threshold showing of State involvement is made, a contention that was not argued by petitioners here. This restricted judicial review applies no matter what stage of the disciplinary process is being challenged. 

Matter of Storino v. New York Univ., NY Slip Op 02087 (1st Dep't April 1, 2021)

Here is the decision.