Grand Valley State University is currently involved in a pending lawsuit in which two students are suing the university for what they feel was a wrongful accusation of academic dishonesty.

The two students, Ashley Short and Erin Jurek, were taking MTH 345, Discrete Mathematics, together in the summer of 2013 when their professor accused them of working together on a take-home exam.

The students are also accusing the professor, Jonathan Hodge, of gender discrimination and harassment.

According to a statement the students’ lawyer made to the Grand Rapids Press, the students had similar answers on the exam because they had studied together previously.

Hodge refused comment on the litigation, stating it would be inappropriate to speak about a pending case.

However, Mary Eilleen Lyon, associate vice president of university communications issued the following statement:

“We have students who were found to have violated the academic honesty policy. The university intends to vigorously defend this meritless lawsuit.”

At the time of publication, the students’ lawyer, Scott Erskine, has not commented to the Lanthorn about the case.

Short and Jurek were both placed on “disciplinary probation” for their remaining time at GVSU. Additionally, Jurek was suspended for the entirety of the fall 2013 semester.

The lawsuit was filed on May 27 at U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids.

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