Hey. I don't know anything about the legal side of this, but as a former college instructor, I would be really angry on behalf of my students if I was asked to enact a policy like this, and if I was in a position to do so, I would gladly protest the policy.

People who compare this to requiring you to buy books, etc. are missing the point a bit - an iPad is an unnecessary, and VERY high, expense compared to regular costs of attending school. It bothered me, as a teacher, that we required our students to spend $60 on a school-specific composition textbook that was "updated" every single year so that older editions were made obsolete. My small form of protest was telling students who couldn't afford the book not to buy it, and that I'd help any student who needed it access the material. (I also didn't teach from that book very much and distributed free texts as much as possible.)

So, as a teacher, if I was technically required to require students to have iPads, I'd probably just ignore that rule. But that doesn't do you much good, if even one of your teacher follows the iPad mandate. I think your best bet is for a group of students and teachers to sign on to an open letter to your university president expressing why you find the policy unfair and illegitimate. Unfortunately, in academia, the squeakiest wheel often gets the grease. Make yourself as annoying and as loud as you can, publish some stories in the school paper and in local papers, get together as many people as you can to protest the rule. This will be easier, cheaper, and likely more effective than trying to involve yourself in a lawsuit.