Suit Alleging Bias at Yale Is Dismissed

A federal judge in Connecticut has dismissed a lawsuit against Yale University by four Orthodox Jewish students who claimed that the Ivy League school infringed on their religious freedom by requiring them to live in coed dorms.

The case has attracted national attention as a test of how far private colleges and universities can be forced to go to accommodate the religious requirements of students.

Lawyers for the students had argued that because Yale, like other private colleges, takes some government money, it should be subject to the same constitutional constraints as a public college. U.S. District Judge Alfred V. Covello denied that claim.

Moreover, he said in his 15-page opinion, the students “could have opted to attend a different college or university if they were not satisfied with Yale’s housing policy.”

Nathan Lewin, the lawyer for the students, released the judge’s opinion late Friday and vowed to appeal.

The four students sued Yale over its policy that freshmen and sophomores must live on campus. The university dorms have men and women living on alternate floors, but the university concedes that it does not attempt to stop boyfriends, girlfriends or other visitors from staying overnight, so residents may often encounter members of the opposite sex on their floor or coming in and out of the bathroom of their suite.

The plaintiffs argued that such close proximity with the opposite sex violated their religious beliefs and obligations regarding sexual modesty.

Yale argued that requiring all freshmen and sophomores to live on campus is part of its educational mission because students learn more as a member of a small community of students and professors.

Yale mixes students from a variety of backgrounds in each of 12 residential colleges, so they eat, socialize and study with people they might not otherwise meet. The idea is to create a small, intimate college atmosphere for each student at the big university.

The issue surfaced last fall when five Orthodox students--calling themselves “The Yale Five”--asked to be excused from the requirement that they live on campus for religious reasons.

Yale refused.

One woman decided to marry early so she could qualify for an exemption allowing married students to live off campus.

The others decided to pay $6,850 a year to maintain a dorm room while actually living off campus.