Science & Math soccer player gets judge's review of suspension

The Durham Herald-Sun
Sept. 10, 1999

By JOHN STEVENSON
The Herald-Sun

A judge has red-flagged an attempt by the N.C. School of Science & Mathematics to boot one of its seniors off the soccer field this fall because of an alleged alcohol violation.

Superior Court Judge A. Leon Stanback temporarily has ordered NCSSM to allow the student, Seth Daniel Goldstein, to participate in the 1999 soccer season despite the alleged misconduct.

Stanback also has told school officials to appear in court Monday to show why his order in favor of Goldstein should not be made permanent.

Goldstein complained in a lawsuit against the Durham-based state school that he has potential to win a college scholarship for soccer, but that NCSSM's "harsh and unduly retributive" action against him might prevent him from getting into a top-notch college at all.

Sandy Rothschild, the legal counsel at NCSSM, said the school will comply with Stanback's temporary order but will fight the possibility of its being made permanent.

"The school takes seriously its obligation to uphold the federal and state laws regarding alcohol use by minors," she said.

Rothschild added that alcohol violations are the most serious offenses in the NCSSM code of conduct and that incoming students are required to sign a statement indicating they understand they could be expelled for drinking or even having alcohol in their possession.

Rothschild said the Attorney General's Office will represent NCSSM at Monday's court hearing.

The lawsuit said that, during a disciplinary hearing in March, school officials validated charges that Goldstein committed an alcohol violation and failed to tell the truth about it. Among the penalties was the provision that Goldstein not engage in athletic or academic competitions, according to the suit.

But the suit said Goldstein was not allowed to have an attorney at the disciplinary hearing and was not permitted to cross-examine witnesses.

The suit also complained that the charges against Goldstein were validated despite "largely circumstantial evidence."

And when Goldstein mounted an appeal, the executive director of NCSSM did not respond for seven week - - even though the school promises its students to answer such appeals within five business days, the suit said.

As it turned out, Goldstein's appeal was rejected.

According to the lawsuit, there is no provision in the NCSSM handbook stating that a student may be prohibited from participating in athletics as a sanction for violating school rules.

The suit said Goldstein had been elected co-captain of the NCSSM soccer team this season.

The suit also included an affidavit from Michael Beer, a recent semiprofessional soccer player and Goldstein's most recent coach, saying Goldstein is capable of playing Division I college soccer.

The case does not mark the first time NCSSM has been sued over the way it penalized students for an alcohol violation.

In 1996, two black students sued NCSSM on grounds that they were victims of racial discrimination when the school expelled them for having beer in their room. NCSSM later rescinded the expulsions and placed the youths on probation as part of a settlement of the lawsuit.