For two high school seniors, a slim gap of 0.055 in grade point average (GPA) has set off a multi-million-dollar lawsuit, an act of vandalism and a petition to rescind Harvard’s offer of admission to one of the students.

High school senior Blair Hornstine bagged a 4.689 GPA while classmate Kenneth Mirkin clocked in right behind with 4.634. But their school’s attempt to give both students—who will be entering Harvard as members of the Class of 2007 this fall—the title of valedictorian has prompted Hornstine to sue, claiming the school was discriminating against her as a disabled person.

In a preliminary hearing last Thursday, a U.S. District Court judge ruled in Hornstine’s favor, likely leaving her the sole valedictorian. Any damage awards will be determined in future hearings.

The legal spat took off when Hornstine sued the Moorestown, New Jersey, public school system for $2.5 million in punitive damages and $200,000 in compensatory damages to preserve her top-dog honor.

Hornstine filed her suit after learning that her high school was considering naming co-valedictorians since Hornstine’s status as a disabled student might have given her an unfair advantage over her peers.

She was exempted from physical education classes due to an immune deficiency that left her chronically fatigued, and she was therefore able to rack up classes that counted more toward her GPA.

The school district contended that this exemption was an unfair advantage in the competition for valedictorian.

Mirkin entered the legal fray last Thursday as an “intervener” on the side of the school system. Mirkin said yesterday he acted in defense of the targets of Hornstine’s suit.

“The superintendent [of the Moorestown school system] has taken a courageous stand to support our class. I’m rising in defense of that,” Mirkin said.

In Moorestown and in Cambridge, Hornstine’s suit has met with popular vitriol.

“People are disgusted by her,” the mother of a Moorestown senior said last night. “People don’t even want to have anything to do with the parents because they see it as being manipulative.”

Hornstine’s house was battered with eggs last week.

Her picture has appeared on students’ instant-message buddy icons, digitally altered to add tears to her eyes and an “X” over her name, according to Moorestown High junior Robert T. Ellison.

Back in Cambridge, several widely forwarded e-mails directed students to an online petition to rescind Hornstine’s admission to the College. The petition had attracted more than 550 signatures at 2 a.m. this morning.

But Mirkin said Harvard students should not judge Hornstine.