Kelston said that Dinu has already received notice from the Romanian army, and that if he returns home, he will likely be forced to enlist.

So Dinu is fighting to remain in the country at least for the time-being. He has a job with a Texas software company, and is trying to maintain his job through March.

"Right now the question is going to be whether he's able to maintain his current employment or not," Kelston said. He had been offered a job contingent on receiving his college degree.

The plaintiffs--who were both roommates and vice presidents of the Euro Club while at Harvard--decided to drop their suit after U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns ruled against their claim that the College did not have a right to suspend students who had completed all their graduation requirements.

The University's attorney in the case, Robert W. Iuliano, said the suit had been founded on an unsound critique of the administrative board from the very beginning.

"It's easy for lawyers who represent students to criticize the administrative board as has happened in this case," he said. "It's quite a common ploy for lawyers because it distracts attention from the conduct of their clients."

"In reality the administrative process, at least in my view, is quite fair," added Iuliano. "It's important to recognize that it consists of 30 members of the university who deal most regularly with students and to try quite hard to understand the facts as they are, not the facts as students' lawyers would like them to be," Iuliano said.