Former Harvard Student Appeals Dismissal of Suit Alleging Wrongful Denial of Undergrad Degree

Former Harvard undergraduate Damilare Sonoiki appealed a federal judge’s decision to dismiss a lawsuit alleging the University wrongfully withheld his degree after three women accused him of sexual assault, according to a filing by his lawyers on Thursday.

The filing, which sent the case to the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals, came one week after a federal judge ruled for Harvard in the 2019 lawsuit filed by Sonoiki.

Days before Harvard’s graduation ceremony, two women filed sexual misconduct complaints against Sonoiki, who was set to graduate in May 2013. Another student filed a complaint days after the ceremony.

The University withheld Sonoiki’s degree as the Harvard College Administrative Board, an administrative body responsible for the application and enforcement of undergraduate policies, reviewed the allegations against Sonoiki.

The Ad Board found Sonoiki responsible for the allegations of sexual misconduct and required him to withdraw from the College. He was later dismissed from the College and never received his undergraduate degree.

In his suit, Sonoiki argued that the Ad Board failed to inform him that communications with his resident dean — who acted as a liaison between him and the Board — would not be kept confidential.

In July 2020, a federal judge dismissed the suit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts.

The dismissal was partially reversed in June 2022 by a panel of three First Circuit Court of Appeals judges, who ruled that the first count of the lawsuit should not be dismissed because he plausibly alleged that Harvard breached its contract with him.

The case was sent back to the lower court for further proceedings before it was thrown out again by District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin on Feb. 6.

In his court opinion, Sorokin wrote that the arguments in support of the breach of contract claim “failed to provide evidence supporting a finding that he was harmed by any procedural errors committed by Harvard.”

University spokesperson Jonathan L. Swain declined to comment on the appeal.

—Staff writer Michelle N. Amponsah can be reached at michelle.amponsah@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X at @mnamponsah.

—Staff writer Joyce E. Kim can be reached at joyce.kim@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X at @joycekim324.