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Suspended Senior Files Suit Against Glenbrook North H.S.

NBC5, Chicago
May 13, 2003


May 13: Suspended Senior Files Suit Against Glenbrook North H.S.
May 12: Hazing Students Suspended, May Be Expelled
May 12: Northfield Township School Board Takes Action On Hazing
May 8: Did Parents Buy Alcohol For Hazing Event?
May 8: School Officials Saddened By Hazing Incident
May 8: Criminal Charges In Hazing Case Could Come Today
May 7: Hazing Victim Speaks Out, Civil Lawsuits Possible
May 7: Parent Hires Attorney In Connection With H.S. Hazing
May 7: Student: 'To See Girls Doing That To Other Girls...'

GLENVIEW, Ill. -- Marnie Holz, 18, one of dozens of students suspended for 10 days from Glenbrook North High School for an off-campus hazing incident that was caught on tape, filed a lawsuit hours later, claiming she was denied due process.

Holz's attorney, Naomi Valas, asked for a temporary restraining order to keep the school district from enforcing the suspension. Valas said it is unclear if the state school code allows the school to suspend the students. She said Holz has been accepted to the University of Wisconsin but did not know if the suspension puts that in jeopardy.


"You are entitled to an education, so when someone takes that right from you without giving you due process, they have violated (your) due process rights," Valas said.

Glenbrook North H.S. completed processing 32 suspensions in connection with the hazing incident Tuesday morning, according to a Northfield Township High School District 225 news release. Suspended were 28 girls and four boys, the release said.

Announcing the suspensions at a Monday news conference, Principal Mike Riggle said he would recommend that the girls also be expelled.

Riggle said he took the steps after the district's counsel advised him that the school had broader powers to discipline students for the videotaped incident than he had thought.

Riggle and his staff continue to investigate the incident and will continue to cooperate fully with law enforcement officials, the District 225 release said.

The 10-day suspensions are the longest the school can mete out, Riggle said. He said it would be up to the district to decide whether to expel the students, which would bar them from campus and from school-sponsored activities, including prom and graduation ceremonies.

"We have never tolerated actions of this nature within our school or by our students within the community, nor will we now or in the future," Riggle said.

Riggle declined to say how many students were suspended, citing the privacy of educational records. He said only senior girls who participated in the hazing were suspended, not other students who observed it. All those suspended would be recommended for expulsion, he said.

The students have three days to begin the appeals process, he said.

The school's investigation found that the students violated laws on hazing and assault, Riggle said. The investigation also found the students violated the school's hazing policy and the Illinois school code.

Earlier, Riggle had said he had little power to discipline the girls because the event was off campus and not sanctioned by the school.

Authorities have said criminal charges in the videotaped incident are likely.

Junior girls from Glenbrook North were seen on the tape being beaten and showered with mud, feces and garbage by seniors on May 4 at a Cook County Forest Preserve park. Five girls were injured seriously enough to send them to the hospital.

Expulsion from the school would not prevent seniors from graduating. Those seniors who haven't yet earned enough credits to graduate will be sent to "alternative education" to complete their studies, Riggle said.

The school is still deciding what information, if any, to give to colleges where the seniors applied for admission.

The incident is an embarrassment to the school in the well-to-do Chicago suburb of Northbrook. The video has received international attention on television.

Dave Hales, the superintendent overseeing Glenbrook North, called the effects of the videotapes "devastating."

However, he noted that the incident involved a fraction of the school's nearly 2,100 students and that he continued to take pride in the school.

"The number of great things that happen in our school district compared to anything negative is a gazillion to one," Hales said.

Steve Mayberry, a spokesman for the Cook County Forest Preserve Police, said investigators spent the weekend interviewing students and parents. Interviews were continuing Monday, with charges expected sometime this week.

Authorities have been investigating anonymous tips that parents provided kegs of beer for the hazing, which started as a "powder puff" football game. So far, they have no solid leads, said Northbrook Police Deputy Chief Michael Green.
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"The number of great things that happen in our school district compared to anything negative is a gazillion to one,"

That's my fave quote from that one.

Anyway, it's an eye-opener that the first lawsuit to come from this literal mess is from a Hazer!

I'll back the Hazees on this one...

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