DREAM Weekly (Summer Edition): June 3-9, 2018

​Summer Edition: DREAM Weekly on Disability and Higher Education in the News: June 3-9, 2018

From DREAM: Disability Rights, Education, Activism, and Mentoring

Sponsored by the National Center for College Students with Disabilities and the Association on Higher Education And Disability (AHEAD)
 
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Disability and higher education in the news (in no particular order):
 
* A group of students with disabilities have filed a new class action federal lawsuit against Stanford University, alleging the campus forced them to withdraw or take leaves when facing mental health or substance abuse crises – something reported by students across the U.S.: https://rewire.news/article/2018/06/05/college-isnt-for-everyone-mentally-ill-students-say-universities-stanford-are-leaving-them-behind/
 
* Kenneth L. Marcus was confirmed as the US Education Department’s assistant secretary for civil rights, despite 231 groups writing letters with concerns about his record on affirmative action, LGBTQ and immigrant students, and students with disabilities: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2018/06/07/divided-senate-confirms-controversial-figure-to-head-education-departments-office-for-civil-rights/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.1049351fe6cc&wpisrc=nl_sb_smartbrief
 
* “Post-Secondary Students with Disabilities: Their Experience – Past and Present” reports on Canadian college students with disabilities,  their characteristics, and the impact of disability on their education: http://neads.ca/en/about/media/Final%20reportCSD2012AdeleFurrie.doc
 
* Asian American millennials may be reluctant to seek help for mental health concerns, and counseling centers may not understand the cultural issues or stigma they are facing: https://www.refinery29.com/asian-american-mental-health-second-generation-immigrants
 
* The University of South Dakota is launching The Oyate’ Circle to do outreach to Native Americans with disabilities, and includes staff from tribal colleges: http://listen.sdpb.org/post/usd-center-disabilities-establishes-oyate-circle
 
* C.J. Harris takes cannabis oil to control epileptic seizures, but the NCAA says he is ineligible for college football if he can’t pass a drug test, prompting the Epilepsy Foundation to request a review of NCAA policies: http://www.kwch.com/content/news/Epileptic-HS-football-player-ineligible-for-college-play-due-to-cannabis-oil-use-483794411.html; the campus then responded that it was the epilepsy, and not the CBD oil, that led Auburn University to drop him from the roster: https://deadspin.com/auburn-says-football-recruit-was-dropped-because-of-epi-1826453861
 
* The National Federation of the Blind, the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, and the NAACP are suing the US Education Department after the Office of Civil Rights created new procedures to dismiss complaints that are “burdensome” to the agency: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/31/us/politics/devos-education-civil-rights-lawsuit.html
 
* A Wall Street Journal article described disability accommodations as colleges “bending the rules” and making courses unfair (https://www.wsj.com/articles/colleges-bend-the-rules-for-more-students-give-them-extra-help-1527154200), but this prompted replies from disability services professionals (https://www.wsj.com/articles/accommodating-the-disabled-in-higher-ed-1528214242) and University of Michigan faculty and staff (https://medicine.umich.edu/dept/family-medicine/news/archive/201805/family-medicine-faculty-u-m-partners-pen-response-wall-street-journal)
 
* Georgetown student Anna Landre landed a great summer internship, but found out the state of New Jersey would reduce her attendant care if she took it and earned $14/hour: https://www.app.com/story/news/local/values/2018/05/21/disabled-howell-student-nj-forces-choice-internship-health-aide/610909002/
 
* Three students from prestigious colleges discuss mental illness, race, and how they found help in a PBS Hour podcast (transcript is available): https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/how-students-who-struggle-with-mental-illness-can-find-help
 
* In the UK, 16 Oxford college bars have banned drinking straws for environmental reasons, but still make them available to people with disabilities: http://cherwell.org/2018/05/18/the-final-straw-oxfords-anti-plastics-revolution/
 
* A student at Hamilton College committed suicide, leaving questions about how much the college knew and the boundaries of federal privacy laws when a student is struggling: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/12/us/college-student-suicide-hamilton.html
 
* If you’re a disabled grad student studying disability, do you have too much authority on the topic, making you biased?  https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/gradhacker/disabled-grad-school-speaking-authority?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=b6cc771605-DiversityMatters_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-b6cc771605-198891893&mc_cid=b6cc771605&mc_eid=a51c972f65
 
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For more information about DREAM or AHEAD contact Wendy Harbour ([email protected]).
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please go to http://ahead-listserve.org/mailman/listinfo/dream_ahead-listserve.org.  Wendy Harbour can also handle requests to subscribe or unsubscribe. 
 
By the way, please don't presume DREAM, the National Center for College Students with Disabilities (NCCSD), AHEAD, or the U.S. Department of Education agree with or support everything in these links we send out - we're just passing along the information so you can form your own opinions.  Thanks.
 
DREAM and the NCCSD are funded by a grant to AHEAD from the U.S. Department of Education (P116D150005).