2 Expelled Marist Girls Will Still Get Diplomas

CHICAGO, IL - The two female Marist High School students whose parents are suing the school over the expulsions levied in wake of a racist text message that circulated among some students at the school last month will still receive their high school diplomas from Marist.

That’s according to their lawyer, Steven Glink, who dropped the part of the lawsuit that requested the girls - both seniors - be reinstated to the school according to a DNAinfo.com Chicago report.

Glink is still seeking $65,000 in tuition costs and more than $1 million for invasion of privacy from the school for his clients in a lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court.

Related: Marist Sued Over Expulsion of Girls Involved in Racist Text Message

Instead of requesting the reinstatements, Glink said an “academic alternative” has been agreed upon.

"An alternative educational plan was presented for the expelled students and that's how they'll proceed," Glink told Patch on Thursday.

While presenting the lawsuit to a judge, he added that the punishment goes against Marist’s Catholic mission of focusing on forgiveness and redemption, the DNAinfo report states, and that he remains "disappointed" in how the school handled the situation.

The racially charged text message was sent on Nov. 6 to a group of students that formed during a religious retreat earlier in the school year. It was sent in the wake of the Mount Greenwood police shooting of Joshua Beal the day before and resulted in the expulsion of five of the female students who took part, according to a petition that asks Marist to reinstate all of the expelled students.

Patch Editor Lorraine Swanson contributed to this report.

Photo by Tim Moran