Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Minnesota

Re: University of Minnesota - Potentially illegal admission/financial aid practi

Although I am not an employment lawyer, as a matter of contract law, the University could argue that the personal rejection letter from the Chairperson of the English Department put you on notice of a potential problem, i.e., a prudent person should have cleared up this ambiguity before moving all the way across the U.S. to enroll in their PHd program. Your argument, on the other hand, would be one of reasonable reliance upon the admission and acceptance packet which you received from their automated system. This dilemma goes to the very heart of Western civilization--who is really in charge, the machines, or the humans who claim to have authority over them? My life experience tends to demonstrate that the computers' decisions tend to trump those of the humans with increasing frequency of late. And, of course, the automated systems are theoretically designed to implement the decisions of the humans at the highest level of authority--perhaps at a higher level of authority than that of the Department Chair. Your case against the University might therefore turn on the issue of which decision maker had greater"apparent authority" to make binding offers to you. Whether or not the University clothed either the machine or the Department Chair with greater "apparent authority" is likely to determine the reasonableness of your reliance upon the machine generated admission packet. You should also carefully read any disclaimers which came with the admission packet. Of course, you have a difficult decision to make in terms of whether you wish to pursue your doctorate at an institution which you are suing and whether such litigation is more likely to help or hurt you. A polite letter suggesting scholarly study of these events, however, is hardly likely to offend. This is especially due to the teleological significance of this question in purely academic terms to an English Department. This situation seems to have the makings of a great doctoral thesis, if not a premier work of creative fiction. As a former English major myself, I offer you my sympathies, yet congratulate you upon the brilliant opportunities with which you are presented by these unfortunate events.