Attorney Charles B. Wayne, "John Doe" and his mother, Mary "Doe," exit the federal courthouse Tuesday for a lunch break.

A federal jury awarded $26,500 to a former student who sued Sewanee: The University of the South for unfairly expelling him following a 2008 rape accusation.

Attorneys for the former student, identified only as John Doe, had asked the jury for $5.5 million in compensation.

The former student alleged that the university failed to protect him by not giving him a fair hearing after another student, identified only as A.B. in court documents, accused him of rape.

A.B. had accused him of rape after they'd had sex in his dorm room, but she left the school and never pursued criminal charges.

Read more in tomorrow's Times Free Press.

• This article has been revised on September 2, 2011 to reflect the following correction:

The amount the federal jury awarded was $26,500, not $50,000 as was originally reported.