“They’ve done either a horrible job at explaining their decision-making or they did something illegal,” he told the Wisconsin State Journal in an interview. “Right now it looks like both, but that’s what we’ve been hired to find out.”

In reinstating Cephus, UW-Madison appears to have avoided a lawsuit threatened by his team of lawyers. But the university could face potential civil action from the women under Clune.

“Any option is on the table,” Clune said. “I hope it doesn’t go down that road. These students don’t want to be in litigation. They want to be in classes. Their families are frustrated and they’re trying to figure out whether this is a safe place for their kids given everything that’s gone down.”

Clune called Blank’s decision to readmit Cephus “unprecedented.”

Of the three expelled students who requested readmission to UW-Madison between 2014 and 2018 — two for academic misconduct and one for non-academic misconduct — none was readmitted, Lucas said.

‘Unprecedented’ readmission