IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) - The University of Iowa’s decision to eliminate and then reinstate scholarships for thousands of children of alumni will cost the university more than bad public relations.
A judge ordered the school Monday to pay the legal costs of a student who filed a class-action lawsuit to challenge President Bruce Harreld’s decision to eliminate scholarships they’d been promised. The bill’s expected to amount to a couple hundred dollars.
The university had asked the court to dismiss the case without costs after Harreld reinstated scholarships for those students last month.
But Judge Carl Baker of the Sixth Judicial District said he agreed with plaintiff’s attorney Jim Larew, who argued Harreld tried to use the students as “political pawns” in an ill-advised attempt to convince Republican leaders to reverse budget cuts. Larew argued that UI only reversed course after an “adverse public reaction” to the cuts.
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