The measures were largely in response to attempts by employers and government agents to obtain records without a student’s knowledge or permission. Doing so would violate FERPA’s mandate that schools not release personally identifiable information without a student’s permission, a public records officer at Western said via email.Įnacted in 1974, FERPA was designed to protect the educational records of students attending public learning institutions. School officials initially cited the federal Family Educational Rights Privacy Act (FERPA) as the basis for refusing to release the names of students found guilty of sexual assault to the reporters. “We had no idea this would turn into such a protractive process.” “When we first started, we figured, OK, we'll make another request and we'll appeal and they'll realize they made a mistake,” said Erasmus Baxter, a senior journalism major at Western and a plaintiff in the lawsuit. In a public statement, university officials said they “will respond to the complaint in Whatcom County Superior Court as part of the legal process.” They declined further comment when contacted by Crosscut. The school maintains that it has complied with state laws.
The lawsuit, filed May 1 in Whatcom County Superior Court, alleges that Western violated the Washington State Public Records Act. And now, two current students and one former student are suing the university for what they contend is an unlawful withholding of public records. Two years and several subsequent records requests later, officials at Western still haven’t provided those names.
But names in those records were redacted, making it nearly impossible to find out whether these students were allowed to continue attending classes. The student journalists received records about investigations of sexual offenses committed by students.
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