AS NYU RETURNS TO IN-PERSON LEARNING, STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES URGE THE UNIVERSITY TO CONTINUE OFFERING REMOTE CLASSES By Rachel Fadem Deputy News Editor
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my health status or because of my immunocompromised state. And I think that’s completely unacceptable — at any time — but especially during a pandemic that isn’t over.” Brinzan requested for her fall classes to have a remote option and was told by the Moses Center that it was unable to offer accommodations to her without speaking to CAS administration. She has not heard back from the Moses Center, but has been ALESSIA GARCIA | WSN During the pandemic, the Moses Center provided students with disabilities with helpful advised to change her in-person accommodations. Students with disabilities appreciated the option of remote learning, but classes to online ones, which are disappointed that this policy is being phased out as the school returns to in-person inwould push back her graduation struction. date and require her to pay for CAS fourth-year Lucia Brinzan took three classes unrelated to her career semesters of medical leave after being diagnosed and personal interests. Currently, she is still enrolled with Crohn’s disease in February 2020. Now, she in two in-person classes and has contacted NYU wants to return to NYU so that she can graduate in administration and the Moses Center asking for her the spring, but remains concerned about the return requests to be fulfilled since she will not return to to in-person classes due to her suppressed immune in-person classes. system — even though she is fully vaccinated. “I think it’s absolutely a reasonable request,” “I am concerned about the risk of exposure Brinzan said. “I believe that NYU does have both the to COVID-19 on transportation to campus and even technological and planning capabilities to provide on campus,” Brinzan said. this accommodation during the pandemic to the The pandemic demonstrated that NYU students that need it.” could offer accommodations for students, such as When incoming Steinhardt first-year Mariremote classes and recorded lectures. But some ah Mendoza — who is also immunocompromised students with disabilities now feel that the university — requested to take their classes online, they were is neglecting their needs. Many who have contact- told that if they did not return to campus, they would ed the Moses Center for Student Accessibility to re- lose their scholarship — something that they find quest these same accommodations for the fall 2021 unreasonable since the pandemic is not over and semester have been turned down — and others NYU has proven that they are able to accommodate only received them after a long and difficult negoti- blended classes. ation with the center. “They told me I was gonna have to return to campus On Feb. 23, NYU Provost Katherine Fleming no matter what to keep my scholarship,” Mendoza announced that students and faculty should expect told WSN. “Which was fine, but I was hoping I can a return to fully in-person learning in the fall. Since do online class in my dorm, and they told me no, that then, the administration has sent numerous emails they weren’t gonna offer that at all this year.” and updates detailing the return to in-person class- In May, Mendoza was approved for houses. Many of these emails emphasize the importance ing accommodations, including access to a kitchen, of health and safety, but have failed to offer guidance grab bars in the bathroom and close proximity to for students with disabilities. campus. However, when housing selections were “For Academic Year 2021-22, beginning announced the second week of July, they were givwith the fall semester, NYU will resume in-person en the incorrect dorm placement. teaching and learning for all courses other than After multiple exchanges with Kami Velez, those originally and specifically designed to be re- the senior manager of NYU housing services, the mote,” an NYU Returns page reads. Moses Center — where they were told their accom After fighting to stay safe from COVID-19 for modations were never approved — and three dorm the past year and a half, immunocompromised and changes, Mendoza received placement in a dorm at-risk students are upset with the university for not with accommodations, but is hurt by interactions offering the same accommodations they did during with the senior manager that felt rude and ableist. the 2020-21 school year — especially with the rise in “If you do not accept or do not reply to this breakthrough cases from the delta variant. Accord- offer your eligibility for reasonable accommodations ing to CDC guidance, immunocompromised people can no longer be considered,” Velez said in an email need to be cautious to protect themselves from the regarding Mendoza’s final dorm offer. variant, and on Aug. 12, the FDA authorized a third Since the dorm they were initially placed vaccine dose for certain immunocompromised indi- in did not have accommodations, Mendoza finds it viduals, noting that they are “especially vulnerable to unfair that reasonable accommodations would no infections, including COVID-19.” longer be offered by the Moses Center. “There’s this very clear guidance from the “The Moses Center was kind of just like, CDC, but there’s nothing coming from NYU,” Brinzan ‘This is what we’re going to give you,’” Mendoza told WSN. “I’ve even specifically asked for it multiple said. “Instead of the Moses Center giving me the retimes and I still haven’t got anything. It makes me sources I need, they kind of just gave me a flat rate feel like I don’t belong here, they’re not interested of what they were going to help with. And then they in keeping me safe and that I don’t deserve to take were like, ‘everything else is on your own’, which is the classes everyone else gets to take because of extremely frustrating because I shouldn’t have to
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[fight for accommodations and accessible learning] on my own. Especially because we saw how accommodating they were before.” Gallatin junior Chad Evans, who has housing accommodations for chronic OCD, shares Brinzan and Mendoza’s frustration with the Moses Center from his experience in NYU quarantine during spring 2021 and his overall dorming experience. While in quarantine, he contacted the Moses Center and NYU housing to find out why he did not have accommodations. He was told by members of each office that he would have to contact the other office to receive them, leading him to believe that there is a disconnect between the Moses Center and NYU housing. Evans noted that the Moses Center has resources and faculty to help students with disabilities, but he is not confident that they can accommodate his needs. Although he does not feel supported by the Moses Center, Evans feels supported by his professors who — for the most part — have been extremely accommodating, especially during the pandemic. “I know professors understand accommodations,” he told WSN. “They understand disabilities, and not so much like, oh give them excuses if you need an extension or something like that, but they understand the needs of their students. I feel like it’s much easier working directly with your professors, than dealing with the bureaucracy of the Moses Center at this point.” As a new student, Mendoza does not have experience with professors and is concerned that their lack of academic accommodations, such as a remote option for their classes, will stunt their learning since they are unsure of how accommodating their professors will be. If they have a flare — a periodic worsening of chronic illness symptoms — Mendoza will likely be unable to attend classes for days at a time, causing them to miss large portions of their education. “I applied to NYU for the education,” Mendoza said. “The fact that they aren’t going to give me the education is really upsetting. So it does put a lot of obstacles that I’m going to have to figure out and I might not figure [them] out.” Mendoza — who helped a graduate student get accommodations at NYU — finds it absurd that disabled students have to now figure out accommodations on their own. “I find it really disheartening that students have to go to Reddit to figure out how they can make their college experience the most successful and the best for them,” they said. “Especially at a school like NYU that prides itself on being this progressive school.” After his experience with the Moses Center, Evans now views the center as a formality rather than a helpful resource for students. “The whole experience made me question if the disability accommodations are almost like about reducing liability rather than protecting the students,” Evans said. “And just about a minimal compliance with ADA rather than actually seeing the registered students get the support they need.” Representatives for NYU and the Moses Center administration did not immediately respond to WSN’s request for comment. Contact Rachel Fadem at news@nyunews.com.