Law school applicant files age discrimination suit against Baylor

C. Michael Kamps (pictured), a certified public accountant from Rockwall, earned an LSAT score of 169 and applied to Baylor Law School in Waco.

But on July 19 he filed a pro se age discrimination suit in Austin federal court alleging the law school denied him fall admission for 2010, 2011 and 2012 and denied him scholarships. He alleges he was accepted to the law school for sessions starting in summer 2010 or spring 2011, but he wanted to start in a fall session, which represents the most competitive of the “three available classes each year.”

Kamps is suing Baylor University, President Kenneth Starr, members of the law school’s admissions and scholarship committees and others, all in their official capacity.

In his complaint in Kamps v. Baylor University, et al., Kamps alleges the defendants discriminated against him on the basis of his age when they denied him admission and scholarships based on his undergraduate grade point average (GPA). He alleges that because he earned his undergraduate
degree in 1979, his GPA reflects none of the “grade inflation” that has taken place nationwide at universities since the late 1970s.

Kamps alleges that by relying on an undergraduate GPA as a standard for measuring applicants from different academic generations, the defendants have created a bias against applicants who received their undergraduate grades prior to the advent of grade inflation.

He argues in his complaint that Baylor should adjust for grade inflation by using undergraduate
class rankings or by adjusting GPA scores for law school applicants of his academic generation.

Kamps asks the court to declare that the use of an undergraduate GPA, when judging admission applications of different academic generations, is “a disparate standard” and therefore unlawful. Among
other things, he also asks the court to order Baylor and the other defendants to admit him to the fall 2013 class; to award him a scholarship and full tuition; and to pay him damages, including punitives, and attorney fees.

Lori Fogleman, a spokeswoman for the university, did not provide comment about the suit before presstime.

Kamps did not return a telephone call seeking comment.

UPDATE: Baylor spokeswoman Lori Fogleman says, "We are aware of the suit, but we generally do not comment on pending litigation. It’s my understanding that this has to do with our admissions standards, but we are confident that our admissions decisions, including our law school, are rendered within the boundaries of the law and in a manner that is consistent with our own admissions standards as well as national admissions standards."

C. Michael Kamps says he sought fall admission because that is the law school's most competitive class and because the scholarship award he sought is tied to fall admission.
-- Miriam Rozen

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