Yusuf V. Vassar College

This appeal raises important questions as to when college disciplinary proceedings violate federal laws against gender discrimination. Syed Saifuddin Yusuf appeals from Judge Duffy's dismissal of his complaint, which allegedly arose out of a series of events that occurred in February and March 1992 while he was a student at Vassar College. Yusuf alleges that his roommate, James Weisman, brutally attacked him. Yusuf alleges that when he pursued a criminal prosecution against Weisman, Weisman's girlfriend, Tina Kapur, retaliated against him by bringing false sexual harassment charges. These charges were heard by the College Regulations Panel, which imposed a one-term suspension on Yusuf. Yusuf claims, inter alia, that his being found guilty of the sexual harassment charge and his receiving a stiffer penalty for harassing Kapur than Weisman received for his battery were acts of race and gender discrimination in violation of, respectively 42 U.S.C. § 1981 (Supp. IV 1992), and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 20 U.S.C.§§ 1681-88 (1988).