American Islamic College: Student Discipline, Dismissal & Federal Court

How do student discipline and dismissal cases work at American Islamic College?

American Islamic College (AIC) is a small private, non-profit college at 1638 West Howard Street on Chicago’s far North Side, in Cook County. It describes itself as “grounded in Islamic values,” welcomes students of all faiths, and offers a Bachelor of Arts, a Master of Arts and a Master of Divinity in Islamic Studies. It has held operating and degree-granting authority from the Illinois Board of Higher Education since 2013, gained candidacy with the Higher Learning Commission in 2020, and received initial accreditation in 2024 — granted, HLC’s records show, with monitoring. Its rules make a promise worth knowing about: the 2026–27 Student Handbook says students “have the right to due process and a just hearing regarding alleged violations of College rules and regulations,” and its grievance hearing allows “an advisor or attorney.”

American Islamic College 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 American Islamic College 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 American Islamic College 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 an American Islamic College 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.

A hearing is promised; an appeal, mostly not

Under the Student Conduct section of the 2026–27 handbook (the August 1, 2026 update), a student accused of violating the conduct code “will be notified in writing and a hearing will be held.” If the student misses the hearing, “a decision will be made without the student’s presence,” and parents are notified where appropriate. Then comes the limit: “The student has a right to appeal if the sentence is expulsion/permanent dismissal.” Anything short of that — suspension, probation — carries no published conduct appeal. Where an appeal exists it must be in writing and must name one of three grounds: procedural errors in the hearing, new information or evidence, or a sentence “not appropriate for the nature of the violation.” The handbook names no deadline, no hearing body, no decision-maker for the appeal and no standard of proof, and it calls itself “a guide rather than a contract between AIC and the student.”

The 2026–27 College Catalog’s College Dismissal Policy is more detailed and, for a student facing dismissal, more useful. It says the policy “ensures fairness, transparency, and due process in all dismissal procedures,” and it requires written notice before dismissal containing a description of the allegations or academic concerns, “A copy of relevant policies that have been violated,” and a proposed date for a hearing or meeting where the student can explain. The appeal goes in writing to the Vice President for Academic Affairs or a designated appeals committee “within 14 days of receiving the dismissal notification” — the catalog does not say whether these are calendar or business days — and an appeal hearing “may be scheduled.” The committee may confirm the dismissal, modify it (to a conditional dismissal or probation, for example) or reverse it. Grounds for dismissal include failing to meet probation requirements, academic dishonesty, serious misconduct, unpaid obligations, and not registering for three consecutive semesters without contacting the college.

The grievance hearing, where an attorney is allowed

AIC’s Grievance Policy is the one place its rules describe a full hearing with counsel. The procedure “is available to students after a determination has been made regarding an alleged violation of student rights,” and it works much like an appeal: its three grounds are an inappropriate sanction, an error at the investigative stage that denied a reasonable chance to present information, and new information. The Grievance Form goes to the Student Services Coordinator, and “The deadline to file the Grievance is within sixty (60) days” of the decision or action — the handbook does not say whether these are calendar or business days. A formal hearing follows “within thirty (30) days of the request.” At it, “The Grievant has the right to an advisor or attorney, and may also present witnesses.” The grievant must give written notice that an advisor, attorney or witnesses will attend “within five (5) days of the Hearing” — wording that does not say before or after, so give the notice well before. The grievant’s questions go to the Hearing Panel, which puts them to the respondent or witnesses. The panel recommends within five days; the Grievance Officer decides within five days of the recommendation; a further step lies to the Vice President for Academic Affairs (academic matters) or the Vice President of Finance and Administration (student affairs).

General complaints follow a separate track with business-day clocks: the Student Services Coordinator tries to resolve a complaint within 14 business days, the Vice President for Academic Affairs within 30 business days of referral, and the findings go to the student within 3 business days.

Probation, academic honesty and grades

Records are reviewed at the end of each fall and spring semester. A semester GPA below 1.5 or a cumulative GPA below 2.0 means academic probation, lifted by a 1.5 semester or 2.0 cumulative GPA, and probation can cost eligibility for college aid. Graduate students must keep a 3.0 and are allowed “no more than two grades of C.” Attendance is enforced automatically — three consecutive missed classes in a once-a-week course, six in a twice-a-week course, or unexcused absences above 20% of contact hours bring withdrawal — and if that happens in more than one course a student “may be suspended from the College without warning.” Students may appeal probation or dismissal status “before the VPAA by submitting a written request for a hearing”; the college’s web page for the same policy sends that request to the Dean of Students, who reviews the records and makes a written recommendation to the Vice President. Send it to both.

Academic dishonesty follows a ladder the Faculty Council adopted for “verified cases”: a first offense means a zero on the work and a face-to-face meeting with the instructor, who sends a formal note to the Dean or the Vice President; a second means failing the course and a meeting with the Vice President for Academic Affairs, who may add suspension, probation or expulsion; and the 2025–26 catalog adds “automatic expulsion” for a third. “Verified” is not defined, and no standard of proof is published. A student who wants to challenge a grade reduced for alleged dishonesty uses the Grade Appeal Process: a written appeal to the Vice President “no later than 15 calendar days after the start of the following regular semester,” committee review within 10 days, a hearing if needed within 15 days, a decision within 3 days, and 6 days to appeal. The same catalog says grades “are considered final after 60 days” and that grade-change appeals must be filed “within the 60 day limit” — a second clock that can run out first.

Title IX at American Islamic College

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). AIC’s handbook cites the Illinois statute discussed below, lists survivors’ reporting and support options, offers a confidential advisor on request, and says both sides may be “accompanied to any related meeting or proceeding by an advisor of their choice.” But its sexual-misconduct procedure is thin and, in places, hard on a respondent: “If the accused fails to respond to the claim and/or appear at the hearing, then the process will be based on the complainant’s testimony only”; a complainant who wants to withdraw needs the respondent’s written agreement before charges are dropped; and the handbook speaks of a respondent being “found guilty.” It publishes no standard of proof and describes no live hearing or questioning by advisors. It asks that misconduct be reported within twelve months, and it sends discrimination and sexual-misconduct allegations to the Title IX Coordinator rather than to the grievance procedure.

What a student defense lawyer can do here

Most of the value is early and quiet. It is reading AIC’s rules against what was actually done and finding the gap; writing the response or the appeal so it argues the grounds the rules 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 campus; 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 AIC, two moves stand out. First, use the college’s own words: it promises “due process and a just hearing,” and its dismissal policy promises notice, a copy of the policies said to be violated, and a hearing date before dismissal. If any of those was skipped, the appeal should say so in exactly those terms, because a departure from the college’s own written promise is the specific, material kind of failure a court looks for. Second, when a conduct sanction short of expulsion carries no appeal, check whether the Grievance Policy — with its 60-day window, its hearing and its right to “an advisor or attorney” — can be invoked for the same decision, and file there in time. And because AIC “does not offer federal loans (FAFSA) at this time,” which federal statutes reach it is a factual question to settle before any federal claim is framed.

What a lawyer cannot do is turn a campus 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 everything: 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 American Islamic College’s own rule on that, set out above, 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. Write down two dates. A dismissal appeal is due “within 14 days of receiving the dismissal notification,” and a grievance within 60 days of the decision. Neither says calendar or business — count calendar days, and file early.
2. Check the notice against the catalog. It should describe the allegations, attach the policies said to be violated, and propose a hearing date. If anything is missing, ask for it in writing before you respond.
3. Send the appeal to both offices. The catalog names the Vice President for Academic Affairs; the college’s web page names the Dean of Students. Copy both and keep the email.
4. Give early written notice of an advisor or attorney. The grievance policy requires it “within five (5) days of the Hearing,” wording that does not say before or after; give it as soon as the hearing is set.
5. Track both grade clocks. For a grade appeal, the 15-calendar-day deadline and the 60-day finality rule both run; meet the earlier one.
6. Raise disability early. If accommodations were requested and not provided, put that in the first written response. The Illinois overview page explains how campus cases reach court.

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:

• Aurora University
• Benedictine University
• Bexley Hall Seabury Western Theological Seminary Federation
• CAAN Academy of Nursing
• Catholic Theological Union at Chicago
• Chamberlain University (Illinois campuses)

Common questions about American Islamic College student cases

Can American Islamic College dismiss me without a hearing?

Its own documents say no. The handbook says a student accused of a conduct violation “will be notified in writing and a hearing will be held,” and the catalog’s dismissal policy requires written notice with the allegations, a copy of the policies said to be violated, and a proposed date for a hearing or meeting before dismissal. If you miss the hearing, the decision can be made without you — so attend, or ask in writing to reschedule.

How long do I have to appeal a dismissal at American Islamic College?

Fourteen days from receiving the dismissal notification, in writing, to the Vice President for Academic Affairs or a designated appeals committee. The catalog does not say whether these are calendar or business days, so count calendar days. The college’s web page sends probation and dismissal appeals to the Dean of Students instead, so send your appeal to both and keep proof of the date.

Can I bring a lawyer to an American Islamic College hearing?

At a grievance hearing, yes: “The Grievant has the right to an advisor or attorney, and may also present witnesses,” with written notice to the panel. The conduct and dismissal procedures say nothing about lawyers. In a sexual-misconduct case the handbook says both sides may have “an advisor of their choice,” and the Illinois statute described above allows that advisor to be an attorney.

Can I appeal a suspension at American Islamic College?

Not under the conduct rules: the handbook gives a conduct appeal only “if the sentence is expulsion/permanent dismissal.” The Grievance Policy, though, is available “after a determination has been made regarding an alleged violation of student rights,” on grounds that include an inappropriate sanction and new information, with a 60-day filing window and a hearing. That is the route to test first.

Does American Islamic College take federal financial aid?

Its catalog says AIC “does not offer federal loans (FAFSA) at this time,” and it funds students through its own scholarships and work-study. That matters beyond money: which federal statutes reach a private college depends on whether it receives federal financial assistance and, for a religiously grounded institution, whether it claims the religious exemptions some of those statutes allow. Those are facts to confirm early.