BU law school email releases personal data

People’s Law School, an annual event hosted by Baylor Law School, will take place Saturday. Makenzie Mason | Round Up Photo Editor
Baylor Law School.
Makenzie Mason | Round Up Photo Editor

By Rob Bradfield
Staff Writer

Prospective Baylor law students were subject to what the university is calling an “unfortunate accident” Tuesday afternoon.

Students paying the deposit to attend the Baylor School of Law in the fall semester were sent an email informing them of an extension in the deadline.

Attached to the email was a spreadsheet containing personal information like names, addresses, phone numbers, LSAT scores and ethnicity.

The initial email was sent at 12:39 p.m., and the university sent an email apologizing to students at 7:32 p.m. after it was brought to their attention.

“Once we realized we had made this error we reacted quickly,” Baylor vice president of media communications Frank Raczkiewicz said.

The apologetic email was sent from the office of Leah Jackson, associate dean and professor of law, and assured students there was no evidence the information had been used for illicit purposes.

While the spreadsheet contained information as detailed as where the applicants earned their undergraduate degree and their GPA, it did not contain sensitive information such as Social Security Numbers or birth dates.

It did, however, include the total amount of scholarship money they were receiving, and their admissions index.

According to Raczkiewicz, the students who received the information were being asked to act professionally, and treat the information as if it had been given to them by one of their future legal clients.

“We’ve also asked them to please keep that information confidential and to please delete it from their files,” Raczkiewicz said.

Above all, the university begged the students forgiveness for the inadvertent attachment.

“Again, we send our deepest apologies for this error. We sincerely regret any concerns caused by our action. We have taken steps to ensure that such a mistake is not made in the future,” it read.