Westwood Class Action Lawsuit – Update from Jillian

Hi Everyone,

Hope you all had a great week and are looking forward to a relaxing weekend!  I just wanted to give you an update from our end.  We are still waiting to hear back from the American Arbitrtation Association about who our arbitrator is going to be.  The way the process works is that we got a list of 15 possible arbitrators and Westwood’s lawyers got the same list.  We each went through the list and crossed off anyone we didn’t like and then ranked the remaining people.  It’s a very research-intensive project because we want to make sure we know as much as possible about all of the options, but we came up with a list we liked a lot.  Our list is compared to Westwood’s list, and if we have any matches, the highest common match is asked to serve.  If he or she isn’t available, then we go to the next match.  If we run out of matches, then we start all over again with a new list.  So, we’re hoping to have an update very soon about whether one of our matches can serve or if we need to start researching and ranking all over again.  We’ll keep you posted as soon as we know!

You’ll notice on the site that we’ve started posting little excerpts from your emails to us.  We’ve received hundreds of letters so far and it’s important to us that your voices are heard!  I also think it’s very important that students can realize that they are not alone, and that what happened to them is happening to other students all over the country.  We’re still working on the best way to display the posts, so forgive me if it’s a little cluttered for a few days while we work it all out.  For now, you can see all of them by clicking “Student Stories” in the Categories section.  Keep checking back for new stories as we’ll keep them coming as fast as we can get them up!

Also, I wanted to let you know of one former  student, Elizabeth, who is using her blog as a way to get her voice heard!  A lot of you have asked me what you can do while we’re fighting the legal fight, and this is a great option.  Elizabeth has been through a really tough couple of years, but is staying positive and choosing to take her education into her own hands.  Check out her blog here - Blurbs by Liz.  If any of the rest of you want me to feature your stories of fighting back, just email me and let me know what you’re up to!

As always, if you have personal questions, comments or concerns, don’t hesitate to be in touch.

Best,

Jillian