Ivies could gain from MIT

Even though the Massachussetts Institute of Technology is currently fighting the U.S. Justice Department alone, its victory could be a win for the entire Ivy League. The Justice Department filed suit against all eight Ivy League schools and MIT in May, charging that they conspired to fix financial aid packages. As part of a consent decree settling the case, the Ivy schools agreed not to meet together in annual Ivy Overlap Group meetings. But MIT, which was a ninth member of the Overlap Group, refused to sign the decree, leaving it to fight the battle alone. Even though the University and the other seven Ivies settled the suit, they may still receive a windfall if MIT wins. If MIT wins its lawsuit -- which would clear the Ivy Overlap Group of anti-trust charges -- the Ivies may be able to convince a court to modify the consent decree to match MIT's winnings, attorneys from several Ivy League universities said this week. "If MIT wins their suit, the University could go to the court and ask to have the consent modified," University General Counsel Shelly Green said Wednesday. Columbia University attorney Stanley Robinson also said yesterday a modification is possible. "In all cases of consent decree, you can always apply [for a modification]," Robinson said. Asked if MIT was fighting for all of the other schools, MIT spokesperson Robert DiIorio said, "I could not say that, but one could draw that conclusion." Green said the University was not compensating MIT for pursuing the case. "Its hard to predict what is going to happen, but we believe the process we were following was best for us," Green added. But the Ivy colleges are not guaranteed a better settlement even if MIT wins the battle with the Justice Department, according to the University's outside attorney Arthur Makadon. "None of these things is an everyday event," Makadon said yesterday. "You really couldn't predict based on past experience." Cornell University attorney Thomas Leary said yesterday that a court would have to examine the weight, jurisdiction and reasoning of the judgement in favor of MIT. "This is one of chances you take when you sign a decree -- someone else may get a better settlement," Leary said. But Leary said he is unsure if the schools would return to the Overlap meetings even if MIT won. "Decree or no decree, it may be that Overlap is dead," Leary added. "And, if there is no one to overlap with, what are we fighting for?" John Jacobs, a lawyer for the Justice Department, said there will be no automatic result for the Ivies whether or not MIT wins the suit. During the annual Overlap meetings, financial aid officers from the eight Ivy League schools and MIT openly discussed and agreed on the financial need of students admitted by two or more of the colleges. Since all Ivy schools award only need-based financial aid, these need determinations served as the base for aid packages. After a two-year Justice Department investigation costing the University over $400,000, the Justice Department filed suit against the nine schools, accusing them of illegally conspiring to restrain price competition on financial aid for prospective undergraduates. The universities agreed to the settlement without admitting guilt, saying it was becoming too costly to fight the Justice Department.

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