Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago: Student Discipline, Dismissal & Federal Court

How do student discipline and dismissal cases work at LSTC?

The Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago is a private seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Since 2023 it has occupied the fourth floor of 5416 South Cornell Avenue in Hyde Park, Chicago, Cook County, on the campus of Catholic Theological Union, and it has since sold its remaining Hyde Park apartment buildings. It is accredited by the Association of Theological Schools and the Higher Learning Commission for the MDiv, MA, MA in Ministry, ThM, DMin and PhD, and reported a fall 2025 enrollment of 91. Its own 2026–2027 All Students Handbook calls this “a year of transition” and admits that “we’re building some of this plane while we’re flying it.” The rule that matters most for a student in trouble is in section 3.5: a student “perceived” as acting counter to the community’s values is invited into a restorative justice process, and “refusal to engage, or a process that doesn’t reach a satisfactory resolution, may be grounds for dismissal or withholding a degree.”

The Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago is a private institution. There is no state action, so there is no constitutional due process claim, and arguing one wastes an appeal. The theory is contract: Illinois holds that a college and its students have a contractual relationship whose terms come from the catalog and the handbook — Raethz v. Aurora University, 346 Ill. App. 3d 728 (2004), restated by the Fourth District in Urso v. Bradley University, 2023 IL App (4th) 230165 — while adding that the relationship “is unique and cannot be strictly categorized or characterized in purely contractual terms.”

The limit is the standard of review, and it decides most of these cases before anyone reaches the facts. A student has a remedy for an adverse academic decision only if it was made arbitrarily, capriciously, or in bad faith. Frederick v. Northwestern University Dental School, 247 Ill. App. 3d 464 (1993), puts it bluntly — courts have been loath to review, much less overturn, academic dismissals — and Bosch v. NorthShore University Health System, 2019 IL App (1st) 190070, holds that a school which departs somewhat from its handbook still wins unless the departure was material. The federal courts in Chicago apply the same test: in Doe v. Columbia College Chicago, 933 F.3d 849 (7th Cir. 2019), the Seventh Circuit affirmed dismissal of a student’s contract claim where the college had investigated and reasoned its way to a decision, and in Gash v. Rosalind Franklin University, 117 F.4th 957 (7th Cir. 2024), it held that calling a process arbitrary or predetermined, without specific facts, is not enough. What survives is specific: in Liu v. Northwestern University, 78 F. Supp. 3d 839 (N.D. Ill. 2015), a former law student’s claim went forward where the school imposed what amounted to an integrity charge while denying her the handbook procedure for contesting one. Which federal statutes reach LSTC depends on facts worth confirming early — whether it receives federal financial assistance, and, for a religiously controlled institution, whether it claims the religious exemptions some of those statutes allow.

A federal claim arising at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago is filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois — Cook County sits in its Eastern Division under 28 U.S.C. § 93(a), and the statute fixes the places of holding court for that division at Chicago and Wheaton. I am a member of the general bar of that court, admitted on my Florida license under its Local Rule 83.10, which opens the general bar to an attorney in good standing before the highest court of any state. That means a Title IX, Section 504 or ADA complaint for a LSTC student is one I file and litigate under my own name, with no pro hac vice motion. The Northern District abrogated its local-counsel designation rule in July 2023, so a member of its bar with no office in the district no longer has to designate local counsel. One limit, stated plainly: the court keeps a separate trial bar, and under Local Rule 83.12 a general-bar member who is not on it — that is me — appears alone in everything except testimonial proceedings, meaning evidentiary hearings and trial, where a trial-bar member must sit as advisor unless the judge grants the rule’s narrow waiver.

Conduct: a restorative process, then the faculty

LSTC publishes no conventional conduct code with charges and hearings. Section 3.5 of the handbook affirms the ELCA’s moral and ethical guidelines for ministry leaders, including its “Definitions and Guidelines for Discipline,” and expects “Conduct befitting ministerial leadership.” The Master’s Programs Manual puts it more bluntly: “Conduct unbecoming to a Christian may be grounds for dismissal from the seminary or may lead the faculty not to approve the granting of a degree.” Where formal action is needed, three administrators keep a written record of the complaint, and “Suspension or dismissal for cause is the faculty’s responsibility, normally on the Academic Dean’s recommendation.” No notice period, hearing, standard of proof, advisor rule or appeal is published for that faculty decision. The catalog adds that the catalog itself is “in no way binding upon LSTC.” For a student, that makes the restorative stage the real proceeding: what you say and agree to there, in writing, is the record. See professionalism and fitness concerns.

The general grievance policy (section 3.11) is the one tool with dates, and it covers misuse of seminary policy by an official or body: try informal resolution; if it fails within 30 working days, notify the Dean of Academic Affairs in writing “within two additional weeks”; the Vice President of Enrollment Management and Student Experience investigates and the seminary responds within 30 days; a Grievance Panel then reports within 30 days, and the President decides in writing within 14 days. The handbook does not say whether those 30 and 14 days are calendar or business days.

Candidacy can end the program

For ELCA students the decisive judgments are not LSTC’s alone. Synodical candidacy committees decide entrance, endorsement and approval, and ELCA seminaries, LSTC among them, “provide evaluative materials and make recommendations to candidacy committees” at endorsement and approval — LSTC’s candidacy office collects faculty advisors’ forms and sends them to synod offices. Each decision is to grant, postpone or deny, and appeals go to the ELCA Candidacy Team “based only on the grounds of unfair process.” The consequence on the academic side is stated plainly in the Master’s Programs Manual: a student who loses candidacy, at endorsement or any other stage, “may no longer continue in that particular MDiv or MAM program track,” and is directed to a consulting team to discuss options. For students on ELCA tracks, satisfactory academic progress itself “includes progress through ELCA candidacy stages.” The handbook’s academic appeals section confirms that candidacy committee decisions “follow ELCA’s own appeal policies,” so an adverse candidacy decision has to be fought in two places at once.

Plagiarism, AI, and academic standing

Under section 3.3, an instructor who determines plagiarism has occurred discusses it with you and reports it to the program director and the Academic Dean, who with the instructor set the penalty for a first offense; anti-plagiarism training is then required to continue, and “A subsequent offense is grounds for dismissal.” LSTC’s AI rule asks students to “disclose meaningful uses of AI” in citations or a methods note — so the safest record of any AI use is your own disclosure. See academic misconduct.

Standing is where the documents disagree. The handbook sets good standing at a 2.0 cumulative GPA for master’s students and 3.0 for advanced studies, and says a suspended student “may petition the Committee on Readmissions and Special Admissions,” returning on probation, with a second failure ending in “Dismissal, with no further readmission eligibility.” The 2026–2027 catalog states semester minimums (2.0 for MA, MAM and MDiv; 3.0 for ThM, PhD and DMin) plus 67% course completion, and gives a different route: appeal the suspension to the Dean of Academic Affairs “in writing by the date specified in the notice.” On academic probation you lose access to extensions. If you are suspended, use both routes, and file the written appeal by the date in your notice.

Harassment and Title IX: a six-member panel and a 15-day appeal

For sexual misconduct, the federal rule is the 2020 Title IX regulation: the 2024 rule was vacated nationwide on January 9, 2025, in Tennessee v. Cardona, and on September 29, 2026 the Department of Education formally repealed it and restored the pre-2024 text (91 Fed. Reg. 61,308). LSTC handles sexual harassment and misconduct under its general harassment policy (section 3.9); its Title IX Coordinator is the Director of Human Resources. Contacted staff should respond within two business days. A formal case goes to a panel of six trained members — two students, two staff, two faculty — convened by the Dean of Academic Affairs for a student complainant. Both sides submit written reports and see each other’s; the panel interviews the parties and witnesses; “Both parties may bring an advocate.” A majority decides, the President breaks ties, and the outcome and appeal information follow within five business days. Either party may appeal to the President “within 15 days of the panel’s determination” on new evidence, bias or unfair treatment, or failure to follow procedure — the handbook does not say calendar or business days — and the President decides within 45 days, also without a stated unit. The policy states no standard of proof. See the Title IX appeals page.

What a student defense lawyer can do here

Most of the value is early and quiet. It is reading LSTC’s handbook, catalog and program manual against what the seminary actually did and finding the gap; writing the response or the appeal so it argues the grounds the documents recognize rather than the ones that feel most unfair; preserving the federal issues — Title IX, Section 504 and the ADA, FERPA — so they are in the record if the case ever leaves the seminary; and identifying comparators, because a sanction far outside what similar cases drew is one of the few arguments that reliably moves a decision-maker.

At LSTC the first move is to take the restorative invitation seriously without letting it become an admission: engage, but put your account and any agreed terms in writing, because a process that “doesn’t reach a satisfactory resolution” is itself a stated ground for dismissal. The second is to treat candidacy and academics as one case — the seminary’s evaluative materials feed the synod’s decision, and the synod’s decision can end the program track — so correct the record at LSTC before it reaches the candidacy committee. Where the handbook and catalog conflict, as they do on standing and suspension, put the conflict to the Academic Dean in writing and ask which text governs.

What a lawyer cannot do is turn a seminary process into a trial. The rules of evidence do not apply, there is no discovery, and the school decides its own case at first instance. That is exactly why the written record built during the campus process is the whole ballgame: by the time a court looks at it, the record is closed.

The one Illinois statute that gives you procedure

Illinois has no general statute setting notice periods, hearing formats, standards of proof or appeal rights for college students. The Illinois School Code, 105 ILCS 5, has a detailed suspension and expulsion scheme, and it applies to elementary and secondary schools, not here. The exception is the Preventing Sexual Violence in Higher Education Act, 110 ILCS 155, and it is a real one. It reaches every higher education institution in the state — public universities, community colleges, and private not-for-profit and for-profit institutions alike — and it requires timely written notice of the allegations to all parties, an investigation that is adequate, reliable and impartial, written notice of the outcome, and appeal rights. It requires the school to make confidential advisors available, trained to a statutory standard and kept separate from the people deciding the case. Both parties are entitled to an advisor of their choice, and that advisor may be an attorney — although the institution may limit how far an attorney-advisor participates in a hearing, which is why LSTC’s own rule on that, set out above — both parties “may bring an advocate” to the panel — still governs what your lawyer may do in the room. The standard of proof is preponderance of the evidence, applied the same way to both sides.

What to do first

1. Find your deadline in the notice itself. A suspension appeal is due “by the date specified in the notice”; a harassment-panel appeal is due within 15 days; grievance steps run on 30-day clocks. Diary each one the day it arrives.
2. Save the 2026–2027 All Students Handbook (the version posted in September 2026), the 2026–2027 Catalog and your Program Manual with dates visible — the handbook is “updated on a rolling basis.”
3. Ask in writing who is deciding. For conduct, it is the faculty on the Academic Dean’s recommendation; ask what you will see and when you may respond before any vote.
4. Keep candidacy and academics aligned. Ask the Director of Candidacy what LSTC will send to your synod, and request a consulting team meeting early if your candidacy is postponed or denied.
5. Raise any disability now with the Vice President of Enrollment Management and Student Experience, ideally two weeks before the semester. A condition that explains the performance is a Section 504 and ADA question for the record. Other schools are on the Illinois student defense hub.

One honest caveat about geography. Illinois has three federal districts. I am admitted to two of them, the Northern and the Southern. A federal claim arising at a school in Springfield, Peoria, Champaign-Urbana or the Quad Cities falls in the Central District; I am not a member of that bar, and those matters I handle with local counsel in that district or by pro hac vice admission. Appeals from the Northern District go to the Seventh Circuit, which keeps its own bar; my appellate admission is in the Eleventh. I say so before a retainer rather than after.

Where I am licensed. I am licensed to practice law in Florida. I am admitted to the bars of the U.S. District Courts for the Southern, Middle and Northern Districts of Florida, the District of Colorado, the Northern and Southern Districts of Illinois, the District of Nebraska, the District of New Mexico, and the Western District of Wisconsin, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Federal court admission is not a license to practice the law of the state in which the court sits. I am not licensed in Illinois and do not advise on Illinois state law or appear in Illinois state court.

Other schools in the Northern District of Illinois

Every school writes its own dismissal, appeal and conduct rules, and the deadlines are rarely the same from one campus to the next. These pages set out the procedure at other schools in the Northern District of Illinois:

• McCormick Theological Seminary
• Meadville Lombard Theological School
• Midwest College of Oriental Medicine (Skokie)
• Midwestern Career College
• Midwestern University-Downers Grove
• Moody Bible Institute

Common questions about LSTC student cases

Can LSTC dismiss me without a hearing?

The documents describe none. Under section 3.5 of the All Students Handbook, a student perceived as acting counter to community values is invited into a restorative justice process, and refusing to engage, or a process that does not reach a satisfactory resolution, “may be grounds for dismissal or withholding a degree.” Suspension or dismissal for cause is “the faculty’s responsibility, normally on the Academic Dean’s recommendation.” No hearing, standard of proof or appeal is published, so ask in writing what you will see and when you can respond.

How long do I have to appeal at LSTC?

It depends on the decision. An academic suspension appeal goes to the Dean of Academic Affairs “in writing by the date specified in the notice.” A harassment or Title IX panel decision may be appealed to the President within 15 days — the handbook does not say calendar or business days. A grievance must be raised with the Dean of Academic Affairs within two weeks after 30 working days of failed informal resolution. Conduct dismissals have no published appeal.

What happens to my LSTC degree if I lose ELCA candidacy?

According to the Master’s Programs Manual, a student admitted to an ELCA candidacy track who loses candidacy status, at endorsement or any other stage, “may no longer continue in that particular MDiv or MAM program track.” The Director of Candidacy convenes a consulting team to discuss options. Candidacy decisions themselves are appealed to the ELCA Candidacy Team, and only on grounds of unfair process.

Can I bring a lawyer to an LSTC harassment panel?

Under section 3.9 of the handbook, “Both parties may bring an advocate” to the six-member panel process, and the Preventing Sexual Violence in Higher Education Act allows the advisor in a sexual-violence case to be an attorney. The handbook does not define what an advocate may do in the room, so ask the panel convener in writing before any interview. For conduct matters decided by the faculty, no advisor rule is published.

What GPA do I need to stay in good standing at LSTC?

The handbook says a 2.0 cumulative GPA for master’s students and 3.0 for ThM and PhD students. The 2026–2027 catalog frames it as semester minimums — 2.0 for MA, MAM and MDiv, 3.0 for ThM, PhD and DMin — plus completing 67% of courses. Missing the standard while on probation leads to suspension. Because the two documents differ, keep both and ask the Academic Dean in writing which governs.