Eliza's Exclusion
November 25, 2010 2:26 PM Subscribe
If you have Down's Syndrome, Southern Oregon University thinks you should know your place. Eliza Schaaf, a woman with Down's Syndrome, was booted from her university ceramics class with only a few weeks to go - an event which seems to be sparking protest and outrage from students and people with disabilities. The local community is stirred up, and now the San Francisco Chronicle is taking an interest. Nothing like a bit of good ole fashioned discrimination to lighten up you turkey day!
This post was deleted for the following reason: nothing like a good old fashioned editorilized front page post to liven up my turkey day. -- jessamyn
Yeah, I can't tell what happened. This gives a little bit more information, but nothing seems to say exactly why they dropped her. She'd already downgraded from "non-admitted status for credit" (whatever that means) to "audit" for the class, and I guess it was the only one she was taking and for the purpose of being with her friends.
The quotes from the school leave me with the impression that she would not have been admitted to SOU had she applied for actual enrollment and being unqualified for general enrollment also makes her unqualified to attend an audit. How much it matters whether this is because of grades or her disability is beyond my scope of understanding.
posted by cmoj at 2:49 PM on November 25, 2010
The quotes from the school leave me with the impression that she would not have been admitted to SOU had she applied for actual enrollment and being unqualified for general enrollment also makes her unqualified to attend an audit. How much it matters whether this is because of grades or her disability is beyond my scope of understanding.
posted by cmoj at 2:49 PM on November 25, 2010
There's something missing from this story -- the University had to have a reason for bothering to do that at the time when they did. It may have been a really terrible reason, but bureaucracy doesn't lurch into motion for no apparent reason.
posted by jacquilynne at 3:03 PM on November 25, 2010
posted by jacquilynne at 3:03 PM on November 25, 2010
The university's side of the story seems to be explained in this letter, which is linked from the first link above.
posted by Dreadnought at 3:06 PM on November 25, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by Dreadnought at 3:06 PM on November 25, 2010 [2 favorites]
Dammit, people, will you stop overthinking everything and just start the outrage? It works like this: GRAR! GRAR!
posted by Pater Aletheias at 3:09 PM on November 25, 2010 [6 favorites]
posted by Pater Aletheias at 3:09 PM on November 25, 2010 [6 favorites]
That letter makes it seem like it's more of a case where the bureaucracy was lurching along slowly the whole time, and just came to a decision at a kind of weird time.
posted by jacquilynne at 3:16 PM on November 25, 2010
posted by jacquilynne at 3:16 PM on November 25, 2010
Btw, part of the reason for the university's reticence on this is that FERPA does restrict the heck out of what information any university employee can share about students. For instance, if a student e-mails me to ask how they scored on a quiz, I can't send the info via e-mail.
While a lot of facts are missing, it does seem odd that the univ. administration wouldn't either have declined to let Schaaf audit the class from the get-go or, if it was allowed as a trial/experiment, let her finish the term.
From the instructor's point of view, these situations pose real practical and ethical challenges. You've got 20 or 30 individual souls in that room whose learning you care about, and they all come in with their own constellation of strengths, weaknesses, needs, contributions, goals, baggage -- and you want to provide a space where everyone's learning can flourish. A good classroom atmosphere, especially for a hands-on, skills-focused one like a ceramics workshop, needs to be fluid and flexible and dynamic instead of some regimented lockstep routine like a scene out of A Wrinkle in Time.
But I have been in situations before where one student in a class of 20 became a time-, attention-, and energy-sucking vortex to the point where it was difficult for anyone else to learn anything, and it was difficult even to get through the course content or activity on any given day. It wasn't the student's fault, and in a perfect world where I had limitless personal resources, I'd happily devote them to the students who needed the most help.
So I wonder if maybe it was the faculty member rather than the students who raised the issue with the administration -- probably the professor would have been thrilled if Eliza had been permitted to have her mother or someone else act as a more comprehensive "personal assistant" since the instructor or other students must have had to take up the slack. And while it's absolutely wonderful for students to depend on one another, if they are called upon to help so much that they can't get their own projects done . . . well, it's all a delicate balancing act.
posted by FelliniBlank at 3:18 PM on November 25, 2010 [2 favorites]
While a lot of facts are missing, it does seem odd that the univ. administration wouldn't either have declined to let Schaaf audit the class from the get-go or, if it was allowed as a trial/experiment, let her finish the term.
From the instructor's point of view, these situations pose real practical and ethical challenges. You've got 20 or 30 individual souls in that room whose learning you care about, and they all come in with their own constellation of strengths, weaknesses, needs, contributions, goals, baggage -- and you want to provide a space where everyone's learning can flourish. A good classroom atmosphere, especially for a hands-on, skills-focused one like a ceramics workshop, needs to be fluid and flexible and dynamic instead of some regimented lockstep routine like a scene out of A Wrinkle in Time.
But I have been in situations before where one student in a class of 20 became a time-, attention-, and energy-sucking vortex to the point where it was difficult for anyone else to learn anything, and it was difficult even to get through the course content or activity on any given day. It wasn't the student's fault, and in a perfect world where I had limitless personal resources, I'd happily devote them to the students who needed the most help.
So I wonder if maybe it was the faculty member rather than the students who raised the issue with the administration -- probably the professor would have been thrilled if Eliza had been permitted to have her mother or someone else act as a more comprehensive "personal assistant" since the instructor or other students must have had to take up the slack. And while it's absolutely wonderful for students to depend on one another, if they are called upon to help so much that they can't get their own projects done . . . well, it's all a delicate balancing act.
posted by FelliniBlank at 3:18 PM on November 25, 2010 [2 favorites]
This is a terribly framed post that fails to even attempt to address the reasons the University might have had for their decisions.
I think it's great that there's an avenue for community members, especially those with disabilities, to be able to take college classes.
But I can certainly imagine a situation where the course instructor has to spend a disproportionate amount of time with a single student. This negatively affects the students who are taking the course for credit. Without more information this is hardly something to get worked up about.
On preview, what FelliniBlank said better.
posted by auto-correct at 3:21 PM on November 25, 2010 [2 favorites]
I think it's great that there's an avenue for community members, especially those with disabilities, to be able to take college classes.
But I can certainly imagine a situation where the course instructor has to spend a disproportionate amount of time with a single student. This negatively affects the students who are taking the course for credit. Without more information this is hardly something to get worked up about.
On preview, what FelliniBlank said better.
posted by auto-correct at 3:21 PM on November 25, 2010 [2 favorites]
the University had to have a reason for bothering to do that at the time when they did
BWAAHHAAHHAAAA.
I like the part where you thought petty university bureaucrats have reasons for doing things best. The part where you thought this was some sort of timing issue was second best.
Also:
GRAR!
posted by obiwanwasabi at 3:21 PM on November 25, 2010
BWAAHHAAHHAAAA.
I like the part where you thought petty university bureaucrats have reasons for doing things best. The part where you thought this was some sort of timing issue was second best.
Also:
GRAR!
posted by obiwanwasabi at 3:21 PM on November 25, 2010
Pater Aletheias:Dammit, people, will you stop overthinking everything and just start the outrage? It works like this: GRAR! GRAR!
There's no use talking sense into these people. This is the same crowd that sucked all the fun out of masturbating on mass transit.
posted by dr_dank at 3:28 PM on November 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
There's no use talking sense into these people. This is the same crowd that sucked all the fun out of masturbating on mass transit.
posted by dr_dank at 3:28 PM on November 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
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Meanwhile, I am appalled that anyone connected with a university would write a sentence like this:
"The non-admitted policy was not designed or intended to provide an avenue for participation to individuals who are not otherwise qualified for admission to SOU."
SHE doesn't have Downs Syndrome. So what's her excuse?
posted by grumblebee at 2:34 PM on November 25, 2010