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The Chapel of St. Basil on the University of St. Thomas campus was designed by renowned architect Philip Johnson with three simple forms: a cube, a dome and a wall that pierces them both.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Richard Payne\/Courtesy<\/p>\n
University of St. Thomas students, employees and alumni whose personal information was compromised in a 2025 data breach<\/a> may be eligible for some relief after the institution received preliminary approval to settle a class action lawsuit. \u00a0<\/p>\n The private Catholic university<\/a> in Houston reached an agreement in late May in state district court that allows affected people to claim three years of credit monitoring and between $100 and $4,500 each, depending on the losses caused by the breach. \u00a0<\/p>\n ‘A NEW ERA OF CHANGE’: Pope Leo’s encyclical calls to ‘disarm AI.’ An expert weighs in on what that means for students, teachers.<\/a><\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n A\u00a0ransomware company<\/a> took credit for the hack that downed the private Catholic university\u2019s servers for more than a week<\/a> at the beginning of the fall 2025 semester, according to the lawsuit. A former student and employee filed the suit in October, alleging that St. Thomas failed to protect a \u201ctreasure trove\u201d of personal information and didn\u2019t notify members of the campus in a timely manner when it was hacked and posted on the dark web. \u00a0<\/p>\n The settlement is not an admission of liability. The plaintiffs said that they believe their claims have merit, while the university has continued to deny the allegations. It decided to settle because of the time and cost of continuing to fight the case, according to the agreement. \u00a0<\/p>\n In a statement, St. Thomas officials said that the institution remains \u201cdeeply committed to the privacy and security of all members of our\u00a0UST community.\u201d They cited university policy preventing them from further comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe have resolved this matter in a manner we believe is in the best interests of our mission, our students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors and the whole UST community,\u201d they said. \u201cWe are grateful to move forward and remain focused on our work and our mission to serve our students. We recognize the seriousness of this and sincerely regret any concern or inconvenience this may have caused.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n People who received a letter notifying them of the settlement can submit their claims by Sept. 28 for out-of-pocket expenses that were not reimbursed and were \u201cfairly traceable\u201d to the breach. The amounts vary, and the claims require proof, such as official receipts.<\/p>\n People can receive up to $4,500 for \u201cextraordinary losses\u201d stemming from fraud or identity theft that was \u201cmore likely than not\u201d caused by the breach.\u00a0<\/p>\n Others can receive up to $500 for \u201cordinary losses,\u201d covering attorneys\u2019 or credit repair service fees; costs associated with freezing or unfreezing credit; and credit monitoring costs. Or, people can receive a $100 payment if they show their personal information was exposed. \u00a0<\/p>\n Any of those individuals can also claim three years of credit monitoring and identity theft protection services with a bureau chosen by the university, including theft protection insurance. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n If affected people opt not to make a claim for documented out-of-pocket losses or credit monitoring, they can instead receive an alternative cash payment of $50.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n It was not immediately known how much the university expects to pay in the settlement. Former student and employee Amy Crull, who filed the lawsuit, was expected to receive a $4,000 service award for representing the class. They also negotiated St. Thomas to pay up to $240,000 for attorneys\u2019 fees. \u00a0<\/p>\n Attorneys for the plaintiff and settlement class did not respond to requests for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n The breach\u00a0<\/p>\n The university\u2019s servers went dark on Aug. 12 as the fall 2025 semester approached, preventing students from accessing online resources like financial aid and course registration before the first day of class. \u00a0<\/p>\n The next day, university officials said in a campus-wide email that they proactively quarantined the affected servers when an unauthorized party tried to access the system, but had not found any evidence of compromised information. \u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n