"He said, 'I gave out 120 A’s last year, and I’ll give out 120 more,' "
"Having my degree revoked now would mean I lose my job."
"some said that they will sue the university if any serious punishment is meted out"
"Some students asked whether there was a fundamental contradiction between telling students to use online resources, but not to discuss the test with each other"
These aren't responses of mature adults. This is immature students whining and complaining because they got caught cheating. The test explicitly said "students may not discuss the exam with others." It doesn't matter how it was done last year, or how hard the class is, or how much money they spent on the class. If the exam says not to discuss it with other students and you do, you have cheated.