Northern Baptist Theological Seminary: Student Discipline, Dismissal & Federal Court

How do student discipline and dismissal cases work at Northern Seminary?

Northern Seminary — legally Northern Baptist Theological Seminary — is a private graduate seminary founded in 1913, with roots in the American Baptist Churches USA, offering master’s and doctoral degrees that most of its students now take online or in hybrid form. Its accreditor, the Commission on Accrediting of the Association of Theological Schools, lists it as accredited in good standing for a period that runs to March 31, 2028. It is also mid-move: in September 2026 it left its Lisle building for temporary offices nearby in Lisle, DuPage County, and it plans an academic home at First Baptist Church of Oak Park, in Cook County, from January 2027, pending its accreditor’s approval. Its rules contain one sentence that shapes every academic-discipline case: “at no time during the disciplinary process will an attorney be allowed to participate or be present.”

Northern Baptist Theological Seminary 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 Northern Seminary 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 Northern Baptist Theological Seminary is filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois — DuPage 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 Northern Seminary 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.

No lawyer in the room: the academic disciplinary procedure

The Academic Disciplinary Procedure — faculty-approved on February 28, 2002 and still printed in the 2026–2027 Academic Catalog & Student Handbook — governs academic honesty. A professor who suspects a violation confers with the student and, if convinced, reports it with the evidence to the Office of Academic Operations. The Dean of Faculty reviews the evidence, asks for the student’s response, decides, settles a sanction with the professor, and delivers the decision at a meeting, with a written copy. Sanctions run from a zero — “In all cases, no academic credit (a grade of zero) will be given” for the assignment — through a failing course grade, reprimand, disciplinary probation, suspension and expulsion, with restitution where property is involved. “For a second (2nd) offense, the appropriate sanction is expulsion from the Seminary.” The catalog states no standard of proof.

The appeal is short and two-tiered. “If the student so chooses, he or she has ten (10) business days after receipt of the decision to file an appeal with the Office of Academic Operations.” A Faculty/Student Guidance Committee — three faculty not currently teaching the student and two students, all appointed by the President — hears it, and the student “may challenge the appointment of one professor and one student.” The private hearing is convened “within three (3) weeks of the filing of the appeal” on the professor’s evidence and the Dean’s decision; the student may question any witnesses, and a fellow student or faculty member may attend only “as a non-voting observer.” The written decision is due within five business days, and the student may then ask to see the hearing record. A final appeal goes to the full faculty “within ten (10) business days after receipt” of the Committee’s decision; the faculty reviews the record without a re-hearing, decides “within one month,” and its decision is final. Unless the Dean of Faculty orders an immediate suspension, the student keeps all student rights meanwhile.

Then the sentence that matters most: “While students are free to seek legal counsel, at no time during the disciplinary process will an attorney be allowed to participate or be present.” Elsewhere the same catalog draws the line differently. In a FERPA records hearing a student “may be assisted or represented at the hearing by one or more persons of their choice, including attorneys,” and under the sex-discrimination policy the advisor of choice “may be, but is not required to be, an attorney.” In an academic-honesty case, a lawyer’s work happens on paper, before and between the steps.

Plagiarism also has its own track. A student “found to have plagiarized” is placed under academic probation until completing an online tutorial, at least three sessions with a writing tutor and a rewrite — and “If the paper is acceptable to the professor, the professor may then re-grade the paper.” That sits awkwardly beside the rule that the assignment earns a zero “in all cases,” and the conflict is worth raising. Students “are not permitted to use AI to create original content that fulfills a course assignment,” and uncited AI use “will be considered plagiarism.” More on AI-related integrity accusations is on its own page.

Which GPA? The catalog gives two answers

Academic standing turns on “the required graduating GPA” for a student’s program, and the 2026–2027 catalog states that number two ways. The program descriptions for the Master of Divinity and the Master of Arts in Christian Ministries each say “A minimum cumulative Grade Point Average of 2.5 is required to graduate.” The Graduation Requirements say “A minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0 is necessary for graduation in the MDiv, MA-CCD, MA, and MACM,” and the financial-aid tables list 2.0 for both degrees too. The Doctor of Ministry has its own split: 2.7 to graduate, 3.0 in the aid standards.

The difference is not academic. A master’s student below the required graduating GPA “will be placed on probation,” and “Any student remaining on probation during the next two quarters for which they are enrolled will be subject to dismissal by the vote of the faculty.” An MDiv student at 2.3 is in good standing under one page of the catalog and on the road to a dismissal vote under another — so raise the conflict in writing before any vote. Appeals of “a determination of probation or termination” for unsatisfactory progress are due “within fourteen (14) days from the date of determination,” where extenuating circumstances caused the difficulty; the catalog does not say whether those are calendar or business days. Grade challenges run until “the end of the next quarter,” and a complaint against a professor ends with the Dean of Faculty, “who has final authority.” See also academic probation.

Community Standards, and the clause a religious seminary keeps

The Community Standards forbid conduct including “academic or personal dishonesty,” “sexual relations outside of marriage” and “the use of pornography,” along with harassment, abuse, theft and substance abuse, and state that “The Seminary may deny admission, place on probation, suspend, expel, withhold a degree, terminate employment, and/or take other action in response to personal conduct outside of these Standards.” Yet the catalog publishes a student disciplinary procedure only for academic honesty; for any other charge it publishes no notice, hearing, standard of proof or appeal. A pending matter still bites: students with “pending academic or non-academic disciplinary proceedings” may not receive a degree or walk at graduation until it ends.

Northern also reserves the right, “as a religious institution,” to make “employment, admission, and educational decisions” based in part on whether a person’s beliefs and conduct are in harmony with its Statement of Faith, Core Values and Community Standards — which is why the federal-law question above is a live one here. The catalog also says it “is not a contract or the offer of a contract” — a sentence to read alongside the Illinois cases above, which treat the catalog and handbook as the source of the terms. More on contract claims against schools is on its own page.

Sexual misconduct and discrimination: find the governing document first

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).

Northern’s compliance page points to the 2020 Title IX regulations, notes that the 2024 regulations have been “voided,” and sends readers to the catalog for its policy. The 2026–2027 catalog’s Title IX section points to “Appendix II – Sex Discrimination and Sex-Based Harassment Policy,” but that edition omits its appendices; the latest printed version is in the amended 2025–2026 catalog of March 2026, written in the 2024 rule’s vocabulary. For student cases it provides a live hearing, virtual by default, with advisors asking questions “through the adjudicator”; a preponderance standard; an advisor of choice who is passive except when questioning; an appeal “within seven (7) days” of notice, counting weekends and holidays and closing at 5:00 p.m. central time; and interim removal of a student respondent after “an individualized safety and risk analysis.” Ask the Title IX Coordinator in writing which version governs your case. More on Title IX cases is on its own page.

One structural point deserves an early written objection. The policy names the Vice President of Finance as “the only designated Confidential Advisor,” yet requires the Title IX Coordinator to “promptly advise the Vice President of Finance” of complaints and to work with that officer in “coordinating and overseeing the Seminary’s response,” and has investigators chosen in consultation with that office. The Illinois statute discussed below requires confidential advisors kept separate from the people deciding the case.

Other discrimination complaints, disability included, run under Appendix I — the Seminary’s “Section 504 grievance procedures.” The investigation starts “within seven (7) business days” and ends within “90 calendar days”; the standard is preponderance; the parties get “three (3) business days” to answer a preliminary report; and an appeal goes to the President “within ten (10) business days” of the determination. Northern’s website still posts an older complaint page requiring discrimination grievances “within 30 days after the occurrence,” while Appendix I says “there is no time limit for reporting.” File early either way.

What a student defense lawyer can do here

Most of the value is early and quiet. It is reading Northern’s catalog against what the seminary actually did and finding the gap; writing the response or the appeal so it argues the grounds the policy recognizes 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 Northern two moves are specific. First, because no attorney may attend an academic disciplinary proceeding, the work is the paper: the response the Dean asks for, the ten-business-day appeal, the challenge to one faculty and one student member of the Committee, and the request to review the hearing record before the faculty appeal. Second, use the catalog’s own conflicts: an MDiv or MACM student on probation should put the 2.5-versus-2.0 conflict before the faculty in writing before any dismissal vote, and in a sex-discrimination or disability matter the first letter should settle which version of the appendices governs and object to the Vice President of Finance’s dual role.

What a lawyer cannot do is turn a campus hearing 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 Northern Seminary’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. Find the deadline and write it down. Ten business days for an academic-honesty appeal and ten more to reach the faculty; fourteen days, unit unstated, for probation appeals; seven days counting weekends under the printed sex-discrimination policy, which treats an email notice as received when sent to your Seminary address.
2. Download both catalogs. Save the 2026–2027 Academic Catalog & Student Handbook and the amended 2025–2026 edition, the latest to print Appendices I and II, with the dates visible.
3. Ask, in writing, for the evidence. Ask the Dean of Faculty for the professor’s report and evidence, and after a hearing request the written record. Other records are due within forty-five days of a written request to the Registrar — the catalog does not say calendar or business days.
4. Write nothing about the merits until you know the process. What you say at the Dean’s meeting becomes the record a court would later review.
5. Request accommodations every term. Northern reviews accommodations only for students who file the paperwork “each term student is enrolled,” through the Director of Academic Operations. If a disability affected your work, put it in the record now under Section 504 and the ADA.
6. Read the overview. The Illinois student defense hub explains how the federal and state pieces fit together.

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:

• Northern Illinois University
• Northwestern University
• Pacific College of Health and Science (Chicago)
• Rasmussen University (Rockford, Illinois)
• Rockford Career College
• Rockford University

Common questions about Northern Seminary student cases

Can I bring a lawyer to my Northern Seminary disciplinary hearing?

Not in an academic-honesty case. The catalog says students “are free to seek legal counsel,” but “at no time during the disciplinary process will an attorney be allowed to participate or be present.” Another student or a faculty member may attend the Guidance Committee hearing only as a non-voting observer. A lawyer can still draft your written response and appeals. In a sex-discrimination case the rule is different: your advisor of choice may be an attorney.

How long do I have to appeal at Northern Seminary?

Ten business days after receiving the Dean of Faculty’s academic-honesty decision, then ten business days after the Guidance Committee’s decision to reach the full faculty, whose decision is final. Probation appeals are due within fourteen days of the determination, and the catalog does not say calendar or business days. Under the sex-discrimination policy last printed in the catalog, the window is seven days counting weekends and holidays, closing at 5:00 p.m. central time.

What GPA do I need to stay off probation at Northern?

The required graduating GPA for your program — and for MDiv and MACM students the catalog states it two ways: 2.5 on the program pages, 2.0 in the Graduation Requirements and the financial-aid tables. Falling below it puts a master’s student on probation, and two more enrolled quarters on probation make the student “subject to dismissal by the vote of the faculty.” If the difference matters to you, raise it in writing before any vote.

What happens if I am accused of plagiarism or using AI at Northern?

The professor confers with you and reports to the Office of Academic Operations; the Dean of Faculty reviews the evidence, asks for your response and decides. The disciplinary rule gives the assignment a zero in all cases, while the plagiarism section puts you on academic probation until you finish a tutorial, at least three writing-tutor sessions and a rewrite the professor may re-grade. Uncited AI use counts as plagiarism, and a second offense calls for expulsion.

Does Northern’s move to Oak Park change where a federal case is filed?

No. Lisle is in DuPage County and Oak Park in Cook County, and both sit in the Eastern Division of the Northern District of Illinois, where court is held at Chicago and Wheaton. Northern says the move will not change its approved degree programs, faculty, curriculum or academic calendar, and that the relocation is pending its accreditor’s approval.