Dixon Day
On August 4, 1961 the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that students cannot be expelled without notice or hearing. This decision of Dixon v. Alabama was monumental, marking the beginning of due process in student conduct administration as we know it today.
This case originated when Black students who attended Alabama State College (now Alabama State University) participated in a peaceful sit-in at the Montgomery County Courthouse. While these students were not arrested, they were expelled from Alabama State College by order of the state government. They were not provided notice of the allegations against them, not were they given the opportunity to be heard before the decision was made.
The students filed a lawsuit following their expulsion, arguing that as students at a public institution, they were entitled to the same constitutional rights and protections afforded to everyone in the United States of America. This meant that these students would be protected by the 14th Amendment and they argued they should have been entitled to due process before being expelled. Given that it was the State of Alabama Board of Education that made this decision, the students argued that they were to be afforded due process, as state entities must abide by the U.S. Constitution.
The State argued that there was no law or precedent that specifically required public colleges to provide a student with formal notice or a hearing prior to expulsion, and that student disciplinary matters had been a traditional higher education academic discipline practice. They also argued that students did not have a right to due process, as its relationship to the student was not a legal relationship, and the students were not protected by constitutional law.
The court ruled in favor of the students, setting precedent for not only student conduct processes in Alabama, but all processes involving students in institutions of higher education. This ruling laid the foundation for the equitable, educational, and student-centered conduct processes we still uphold today.
Dixon serves as a reminder that every student is to be afforded basic due process. Additionally, Dixon v. Alabama was a pivotal moment in the pursuit of racial equality in higher education. ASCA carries forward this intent in its core values, including equity and intentional inclusion and advocacy.
On August 4 annually, ASCA seeks to remind student conduct practitioners and all higher education administrators to take a moment and reflect on how Dixon continues to shape our work in student conduct specifically and student affairs generally. ASCA also uses this day to affirm the continued importance of due process even through an ever changing national climate.
What to learn more? ASCA members can login to the Resources section of the ASCA website to watch an 8-minute video, Sitting Down But Not Staying Seated, which includes first-person accounts from leaders involved in the demonstration and subsequent lawsuit that yielded the Dixon decision.
To help advance due process in student conduct administration, consider supporting the ASCA Dixon-McFadden Award through a donation. This award recognizes an individual who has been a trailblazer on campus as it relates to student conduct and an individual who has enhanced the lives of students by going above and beyond.
Pictured: Freddie Gray, James McFadden,
and St. John Dixon at the 2010 ASCA
Annual Conference
Sources:
Dixon v. Alabama 294 F.2d 150 (5th Cir. 1961)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixon_v._Alabama
https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/186/945/2374127