Although unfortunate, if you've accidentally offended a student or even, say, intentionally offended a student and you find yourself being accused of misconduct charges at your college or university, it is a very serious situation. The question would be, is a school within its rights to pursue such allegations? In some instances, they may be. In many instances, they may not be. It depends on the nature of the conduct itself. Was it, say, sexual harassment potentially under Title IX? Was it because the accused student, say, expressed a certain unpopular, say, sentiment or political or social view
Just because a person has different views that somebody may be offended by, certainly does not mean that the person's in violation of anything, but you cannot necessarily depend on the school to be receptive of that. Students do have a certain obligation under their school's code of conduct and other policies, but students also have the right to freedom of speech and, say, nuanced consideration in terms of who's going to be within their rights.
Having an experienced attorney is going to be your best ally in terms of helping you understand your rights and to take the necessary action to respond accordingly. They'll help you understand and navigate the process. They should be involved as early as possible in a case.
