Duke’s Student Judiciary Will Let Ex-College Republican Chairman Justin Robinette Plead His Case

Justin Robinette, the Duke University student who claims he was ousted from his College Republicans chairman post for being gay, will at last have his complaint heard by the schools’ student judiciary — which, uh, just decided not to hear it? And now the feud is about getting kicked off a listserv?

Justin Robinette, who was impeached by the organization’s executive board in April, and Cliff Satell, a former member of the organization, said they were blacklisted from the club’s listserv in April and were removed once again on Aug. 31, along with other students. “It’s really only retaliation,” Robinette said. “Anyone who has protested or signed petitions was removed.” Straus said the case is complicated because the judiciary has to figure out if removal from the listserv means denying membership. “There’s no precedent for this sort of thing,” he said.

On Friday the twosome met with Duke University President Richard Brodhead — one of the first times the school has taken an active role in the complaint, although the meeting didn’t go very well, according to Satell: “I was just surprised that as a university president, he wasn’t willing to learn more. At the end of the day, we left the room no better off, but at least he’s aware.”