## Facts

- Joy Ann Babb enrolled in a university nursing program in January 1979 under a catalog that (1) set probation rules for GPA below 2.0, (2) treated the last grade as the official grade when a failed course was repeated, and (3) permitted graduation under the catalog in effect at entry (or any later catalog while registered) if completed within six years.
- During the Fall 1979 semester, Babb was notified she was failing a 12-hour course; a counselor advised her to withdraw and seek readmission under an upcoming quarter system.
- Babb withdrew, was assigned a “WF” (withdrawn failing) for the course, and was readmitted under the quarter system governed by a later catalog that added: “A student with more than two D’s in the program will be required to withdraw.”
- In the quarter system, Babb took additional courses (including courses to make up for the earlier WF) and received two D grades.
- The school treated the WF and later grades as triggering mandatory withdrawal under the “more than two D’s” rule and notified Babb she was terminated from the program.
- After being unable to obtain a meeting with the dean to contest the action, Babb sued for injunctive relief to allow her to resume classes and complete her degree under the catalog terms applicable at initial enrollment.
- The trial court granted a temporary injunction preventing interference with Babb’s continuation in the program; the university and officials appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether sovereign (governmental) immunity required abatement/dismissal of a suit seeking injunctive relief against a state university and its officials to prevent allegedly unlawful exclusion from an academic program.
2. Whether the evidence supported temporary injunctive relief based on the student’s reliance on catalog provisions governing degree requirements and the alleged improper retroactive application of a later, stricter catalog rule.

## Decision

- The appellate court affirmed the temporary injunction.
- The court held the plea in abatement based on immunity was properly denied because the suit sought to restrain allegedly unlawful or unauthorized official action rather than obtain money damages or impose liability on the state.
- The court held the trial court did not abuse its discretion in finding (1) a probable right to relief and (2) a probable injury absent interim relief, given the catalog provisions and the school’s application of the later “more than two D’s” rule to Babb.

## Legal Principles

- Sovereign immunity does not bar suits for injunctive relief against state officials to restrain acts alleged to be illegal or beyond lawful authority, even if the relief affects how an agency administers its program.
- A temporary injunction requires proof of (1) a probable right of recovery and (2) a probable, imminent injury if relief is denied pending trial.
- Published academic rules in a university catalog may create enforceable expectations sufficient to support equitable relief, particularly where the catalog permits completion of a degree under the requirements in effect at the student’s entry and the institution applies later, more restrictive standards retroactively.

## Conclusion

The court allowed interim judicial protection for a student facing termination based on a later-added academic standard, holding that immunity did not preclude injunctive relief against allegedly unauthorized university action and that the record supported a temporary injunction preserving the student’s ability to continue toward her degree pending a merits determination.


Univ. of Tex. Health Sci. Ctr. v. Babb, 646 S.W.2d 502 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1982)