The Emory Wheel Since 1919
Emory University’s Independent Student Newspaper
Volume 103, Issue 9
Wednesday, August 31, 2022
Printed Every Other Wednesday
Court denies Emory’s motion to dismiss financial aid collusion lawsuit By Matthew Chupack Executive Editor
Emory University could have provided each undergraduate student on financial aid an additional $14,256 scholarship toward tuition, room, board and fees, on average, if Emory had not colluded with other private, elite universities, a legal brief alleges. Emory and the 16 other universities listed in the lawsuit — the defendants — filed a motion to dismiss the case, which included arguments about the timeline of Emory’s involvement in the Cartel and the alleged implications of the membership. The defendants’ motion was heard by an Illinois federal district court on Aug. 2. The court denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss the case on Aug. 15. The effort is part of a lawsuit filed in January by nine former students who attended some of the 17 universities named as defendants in the case. The lawsuit is premised on arguments surrounding these universities’ current or former involvement in the 568 Presidents Group, or 568 Cartel. More than 200,000 people across all of the universities are involved in the proposed class. The plaintiffs allege that these institutions violated antitrust laws by engaging in price fixing, which is artificially inflating the net cost of attendance for students receiving financial aid. Robert Gilbert, Managing Partner of Gilbert Litigators & Counselors and one of the lead lawyers for the plaintiffs, said that this suit aims to bring “substantial restitution for 200,000 students who have been harmed by the collusion.” In the next step of the case, Gilbert said his firm hopes to take depositions from the University officials involved in the alleged “antitrust conspiracy.” Partner at Roche Freedman LLP Edward Normand, a lead firm for the plaintiffs, further expressed gratitude for the court’s decision to sustain the lawsuit and said “we look forward to vindicating the rights of students.” The other universities named in the lawsuit include Brown University (R.I.), California Institute of Technology, University of Chicago, Columbia University (N.Y.), Cornell University
A lly Hom/Photo Editor
(N.Y.), Dartmouth College (N.H.), Duke University (N.C.), Georgetown University (D.C.), Johns Hopkins University (Md.), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Notre Dame (Ind.), University of Pennsylvania, Rice University (Texas), Vanderbilt University (Tenn.) and Yale University (Conn.). Lawsuit background Formed in 1998 and named after Section 568 of the Improving America’s Schools Act of 1994, all universities in the 568 Presidents Group must practice needblind admissions. The group established the Consensus Approach Methodology in 2003, which is “a set of common standards” to calculate an applicant’s family’s ability to pay tuition, the 568 Presidents Group website states. “It seeks to reduce much of the variance in need analysis results that has been experienced in recent years,” reads a statement on the group’s website. “The participating institutions believe that the
Consensus Approach, when applied in a consistent manner, serves to diminish or eliminate the divergent results that threaten the long-standing tradition of awarding aid on the basis of need.” Cartel Chairman and Georgetown President John DeGioia has admitted that Cartel members use a common formula for determining financial aid packages, Gilbert noted. In a March 2009 student town hall addressing the implications of the Great Recession, DeGioia indicated that Georgetown uses a particular methodology to determine students’ financial assistance packages. “In an environment as volatile as the one that we are in, we know families are hurting and that some may experience deeper levels of need than they had in previous years,” DeGioia said. “We are anticipating greater need and have built the budget accordingly. As a 568 school, we are committed to using a common and consistent methodology.” DeGioia added that there is “no doubt
‘Stranger Things’ film location to be demolished amid renovations By Lauren Baydaline Asst. Multimedia Editor and Atlanta Campus Desk
at times” that the financial need calculated through this methodology “is less than some families would hope.” At the time of the speech, about 35% of Georgetown undergraduates were receiving financial awards averaging $25,000 a year. “He has further admitted that Cartel members ask the family to contribute ‘the maximum that they are capable of according to that formula,’” Gilbert added. “That is textbook antitrust price fixing. The table overcharges in the plaintiffs’ court filing illustrates the substantial impact on price.” The named universities outlined four reasons why the lawsuit should be dropped in their motion to dismiss the case: exemption from antitrust laws, no defined market, speculatory injury claims and an expired statute of limitations. The plaintiffs say the universities’ arguments are “premature; ignore the plain language of the statutory exemption they invoke as an affirmative defense; misconstrue the controlling precedent; and assume it should have been clear to Class
By Eva Roytburg News Editor
Building A, which was used for Hawkin’s Lab in “Stanger Things,” stands on the Briarcliff campus. long-term ground lease with a senior according to Galerie Living Director living community developer and of Marketing Stephen Corder. Payne operator,” Associate Vice President noted that Emory will maintain the for Planning and Engagement David rest of the acreage and land where the Payne said. Library Service Center is located for At least 32 acres of the 42 acre future use. Briarcliff property will be leased,
The Emory University Hope Clinic hosted the DeKalb Department of Public Health (DPH) to provide free monkeypox vaccinations to those eligible to receive the vaccine on Aug. 25. Eligibility requirements included being at least 18 years old and being a man who has sex with other men (MSM), or people who regularly have close, intimate or sexual contact with persons who are MSM, among others. A total of 36 vaccine doses were administered during the clinic event, Eric Nickens, the Manager for the DeKalb County Board of Health Office of Communications and Media Relations, said.
NEWS COVID-19 Cases Increase Following Move-In... PAGE 4 P
OPINION Price-Fixing Case Demands Justice For PAGE 6 Students ...
EMORY LIFE New Restaurants at Emory Make PAGE 13 Fall Debuts ...
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A&E CultureShock Delivers High-Energy PAGE 9 Performances ...
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Georgia monkeypox cases rank fifth in United States
Building A on Emory University’s Briarcliff property, which is an abandoned mental health hospital that served as the filming location for Hawkin’s Lab in the popular Netflix series “Stranger Things,” will be torn down as part of Emory’s plans to renovate Briarcliff into a gated senior living community. The Atlanta-based senior living company Galerie Living recently entered into a 99-year lease agreement with Emory to develop and operate the senior living community, Corso Druid Hills. This will be Galerie Living’s second community under its Corso brand. Galerie Living opened its first Corso location in Atlanta last year. “Due to its distance from the main campus and various site considerations, Emory decided to enter a
Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
members since 2003 that Defendants have been artificially inflating net prices — which Defendants simultaneously insist they have not been inflating.” Emory’s involvement in the lawsuit is unique as it is one of three defendants — alongside Brown and the University of Chicago — arguing that they quit the conspiracy. The 568 Presidents Group member roster currently does not list these institutions. According to the case, Emory joined the Cartel in 1998 and implemented the Consensus Methodology in 2003. Emory allegedly left the Cartel in 2012. A defendant must take “affirmative acts to disavow the conspiracy and its goals” in order to withdraw from the conspiracy, the plaintiffs explained in response to the defendants’ motion to dismiss the case. The plaintiffs further allege that Brown, the University of Chicago and Emory cannot prove that they took these measures to adequately withdraw from the Cartel.
The Emory Hope Clinic is also starting a monkeypox vaccine study next week, Paulina Rebolledo, an MD investigator at the Hope Clinic, said. Healthy adults who are interested in participating in the study should contact the clinic about volunteering. Though the Emory Hope Clinic — which is part of the Division of Infectious Disease at Emory School of Medicine — provided space and assisted with vaccination, Executive Director of Student Health Services Sharon Rabinovitz said that there are no plans for Student Health Services to provide the vaccine themselves. The monkeypox outbreak has infected 18,416 people in the United States and 49,974 people worldwide.
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