Morgan Bettinger, Class of 2021 College alumna, settled a lawsuit against the University after being sanctioned by the University Judiciary Committee for a 2020 comment concerning Black Lives Matter protestors blocking traffic in downtown Charlottesville. The lawsuit alleged that President Jim Ryan, the University Board of Visitors and former Dean of Students Allen Groves violated her free speech and due process rights by permitting and assisting in her sanctions.
While the details of the settlement have not yet been publicized, according to an email from University Communications Deputy Spokesperson Bethanie Glover, the lawsuit “was resolved by a mutual and amicable agreement and dismissed following a joint motion by both parties.”
Bettinger’s legal team filed a lawsuit against the University in July on the grounds that the University failed to protect her first amendment right to freedom of speech by permitting her expulsion by the UJC. The lawsuit also contended that the University further violated Bettinger’s due process rights by failing to retry Bettinger’s expulsion case after a later inquiry by the Office for Equal Opportunity and Civil Rights found Bettinger not guilty of the charges she was convicted for.
“The Defendant University of Virginia and its most senior leaders — leaders who owed Morgan a duty to protect her ‘best interests’ — would, without any legal or evidentiary basis, join in, augment, amplify, and then take the lead in a racially motivated campaign to ruin Morgan Bettinger,” the lawsuit said.
The incident for which the University expelled Bettinger occurred when Bettinger was driving in downtown Charlottesville July 17, 2020, when she was stopped by a dump truck blocking the road. Bettinger exited her car to ask the truck driver what was going on, to which the driver responded that he was protecting Black Women Matter protestors from oncoming traffic.
According to Bettinger, she jokingly said to the driver “It’s a good thing you’re here, because otherwise these people would have been speed bumps.” Zyahna Bryant, Charlottesville-area activist and Class of 2023 alumna, was part of the protesting group. She claimed she heard Bettinger say a different statement — that the protestors “would make good speed bumps.” She then posted Bettinger's alleged statements on Twitter, and the post quickly went viral.
The social media campaign criticizing Bettinger’s alleged statements, spearheaded in large part by Bryant, led to Bettinger being reported to the UJC. The Committee heard a trial on the case and Bettinger was found guilty of “threatening the health and safety” of University students and expelled in abeyance, meaning that she could remain at the University but received a demerit on her academic record.
Bettinger was also sanctioned to 50 hours of community service, to meet with Bryan Williams, professor at the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, to learn about the history of police-community relations and to write an apology letter to Bryant.
According to the Daily Progress, the U.Va. Office for Equal Opportunity and Civil Rights later found Bettinger not guilty of the charges the UJC expelled her for, citing a lack of sufficient evidence, but the demerit remained on her record. Following these findings, both Bettinger and the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, which has the mission of defending free speech on college and university campuses through advocacy and legal defense, sent letters to President Ryan requesting the UJC sanctions be expunged. Ryan refused to do so, stating that Bettinger’s conviction was legitimate.
“Ms. Bettinger received a fair hearing and review by both the UJC and the Judicial Review Board ('JRB'),” Ryan said in a letter to FIRE. “I have no basis to find that the investigative or adjudicative process was infected with significant procedural errors that would warrant expungement.”
The UJC also declined to comment on the settlement.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article had a headline that stated that Bettinger was expelled by the University. However, Bettinger was expelled in abeyance. The article has since been updated to reflect this change.
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