## Facts

- Baruch College, a public college within the City University of New York, recognized and supported a general alumni association for its graduates.
- Black and Hispanic alumni sought to form a Baruch-affiliated association focused on the concerns of minority students and alumni.
- The proposed association requested official recognition, permission to use the Baruch name, office space, and institutional support services.
- College officials declined to grant official recognition and related benefits.
- Plaintiffs alleged the refusal violated the First Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause because the College recognized a general alumni association while denying recognition to a minority-focused association.
- The district court had previously dismissed the complaint on the pleadings; the Second Circuit vacated and remanded, stating that unconstitutional racial or political motivation could make the College’s actions unlawful.
- On remand, after discovery, the district court addressed whether the Constitution required Baruch to recognize and support alumni organizations and what constitutional limits applied once the College created an alumni recognition structure.

## Issues

1. Whether the First Amendment requires a public college to recognize, fund, or provide institutional support to an alumni association seeking affiliation with the college.
2. Whether, once a public college establishes an alumni association structure and confers recognition and benefits, the Equal Protection Clause requires the college to administer that structure without racial (or other impermissible) discrimination.

## Decision

- The court held that the First Amendment does not obligate a public college to recognize or fund alumni organizations, and a refusal to recognize an alumni group, standing alone, does not unlawfully burden alumni associational rights.
- The court held that if a college chooses to establish and participate in an alumni relationship structure by recognizing and supporting alumni groups, it must administer that structure on a non-discriminatory basis consistent with Equal Protection.
- The court distinguished student-organization cases involving current students from alumni, reasoning that the college’s post-graduation obligations are limited absent specific undertakings.

## Legal Principles

- The First Amendment generally restrains government interference with association and speech; it does not impose a general duty on a public institution to provide official recognition, funding, facilities, or other affirmative support to private groups.
- A public college may decline to sponsor or recognize alumni groups without violating the First Amendment where alumni remain free to associate privately.
- When a public college creates a benefit-conferring structure for alumni associations (recognition, access, support), Equal Protection limits selective administration of those benefits based on race or other impermissible classifications.
- Distinctions between current students and alumni may affect the scope of any institutional obligations to provide access to institutional channels, facilities, or recognition.

## Conclusion

The court concluded that Baruch was not constitutionally required to recognize or support an alumni association, but that any alumni-recognition system the College chose to operate had to be administered without unlawful discrimination, including discrimination based on race or viewpoint.


Ad Hoc Comm. of the Baruch Black & Hispanic Alumni Ass’n v. Bernard M. Baruch Coll., 726 F. Supp. 522 (S.D.N.Y. 1989)