When Disinformation Drives Detention, Law Schools Must Defend Truth and Due Process.
It began, as these things often do, with a rumor: that a university had disclosed a graduate student’s records to immigration authorities. The student, a protest participant, was suddenly detained. The university president—newly appointed, a woman, and operating within strict legal boundaries—said little. She couldn’t. Federal privacy law forbids it.
But silence, even when legally required, can be misinterpreted in a social media firestorm. Accusations spread. Protesters mobilized. Hashtags escalated into calls for resignation.
This is not simply a crisis of perception. It is a crisis of law, disinformation, and unequal burdens in leadership—and it is one that higher education, particularly law schools, must be prepared to confront directly.
