A California appeals court has ruled, 2 to 1, that public colleges and universities do not have a general legal obligation to protect adult students from violent acts by other students. The ruling throws out a lawsuit against the University of California by Katherine Rosen, a former student at the University of California at Los Angeles who in 2009 was stabbed and had her throat slashed by a fellow student in a chemistry lab. The suit charged that UCLA didn't do enough to protect students, even as it learned of the serious mental health issues faced by the student who committed the stabbing. That student, Damon Thompson, who was charged in the attack, was found not guilty by reason of insanity. The ruling is based on California and not federal law. But it comes at a time of increased public debate over the responsibilities of colleges to protect students.

October 9, 2015 ・ From Inside Higher Ed