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Higher Education
Evicted: When Colleges Abandon Students Who Need Live-in Caregivers
September 1, 2021
Tim Gilmer
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Illustration by Mark Weber
What happens when an exemplary college for significantly-disabled wheelchair users encounters financial difficulties, cuts costs and ultimately abandons its historic mission to provide necessary everyday living supports for those who need them most? For dozens of Edinboro University students, the outcome was shockingly disruptive to their college progress and future plans. Furthermore, it deprived them of much-needed social interaction and a sense of community — both critical factors in overall quality of life, maintaining self- determination and continued progress in the battle for equality.
As disturbing and unjust as the Edinboro situation has been, it also serves as a warning of what may be in store for other university programs that serve disabled students who need personal assistance. The flip side of this ugly possibility — if it can be adequately envisioned and carried out on a national scale — could conceivably be a stable, self-sustaining model of how this nation finally makes good [...]