It’s Black History Month, and the Office of Student Conduct would like to spotlight the case of Dixon v. Alabama State Board of Education (1961) and honor the people of color who transformed student conduct policies in the United States, laying the foundation for modern procedural due process at colleges and universities.
In 1961, several black students were expelled from Alabama State College, now known as Alabama State University, after participating in several civil rights demonstrations. The situation began with a student sit-in at the segregated lunchroom of the Montgomery County Courthouse. This peaceful protest caught the attention of Governor John Patterson, who demanded that President Trenholm of Alabama State College expel all students involved in the protest. Despite Trenholm’s pleas for leniency, the all-white Board of Education, led by Governor Patterson, voted unanimously to expel nine students and place 20 others on probation. The students were not allowed to present their case or attend this meeting (Lee, 2014). The students received a letter from the college president stating that the institution had the right to remove students for “Conduct Prejudicial to the School” or “Insubordination and Insurrection.” (NC State University Office of Student Conduct, Dixon v. Alabama Board of Education).
A few months after the board’s disciplinary decision, the students sought justice in court. The Fifth Circuit Court ruled that these students had the right to procedural due process at their university, which must include prior notice, the names of witnesses, and the opportunity to present their case to the board or an administrative official of the college (Lee, 2014). This ruling resulted in widespread changes in how student conduct was administered at public universities across the country, including many of the established rights students have today. Rights that without the sacrifice of the many Black activists would not exist today.
At Missouri State University we consider it our top priority to safeguard the rights of our students. We encourage you to read the Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities, which outlines your rights as a student at MSU, and learn more about the historic case that helped establish them.


References
Dixon v. Alabama Board of Education. NC State University Office of Student Conduct. (n.d.). https://studentconduct.dasa.ncsu.edu/dixon-v-alabama-board-of-education/
Lee, P. (2014). The case of Dixon v. Alabama: From civil rights to students’ rights and back again. Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education, 116(12), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146811411601206