[blindlaw] How to Cope? - Law Student Sabotaged by DeanandProfessors

Angie Matney angie.matney at gmail.com
Fri Dec 26 04:02:02 UTC 2014


Anita:

I can't speak to how common incidents like this are, but I would strongly urge you to reconsider letting this instance of discrimination lead you to choose to attend a non-ABA accredited school. The reality is that the school you attend will impact your job prospects, and as a member of a group with a 70% unemployment rate, it is important to do all that you can do to maximize your employability. Even if you pass the bar, employers may eliminate you from consideration based on your school. I know of firms that do not consider students from some ABA-accredited schools. Of course, you may not wish to work in a firm, and every situation is different. But ultimately, as a blind person, you may wish to consider attending the highest-ranked school you possibly can.

Best of luck to you and to the other student.

Angie



Sent from my iPhone

> On Dec 25, 2014, at 6:15 PM, Anita Keith-Foust via blindlaw <blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Dear Michal:
> 
> Those are excellent questions.
> 
> The school that is the topic of my inquiry is a historically African
> American university, North Carolina Central University (NCCU). It is not top
> ranked like Yale, Harvard, or Duke.
> 
> The fact that it is a historically African American university would make me
> think that the faculty would be sensitive enough to not discriminate and
> follow the law. 
> 
> As I think about the dilemma that we all face as blind and visually impaired
> students, we probably need to start a database of substantiated instances of
> discrimination at all colleges and universities. There is more than one
> instance of visually challenged students not being accommodated at NCCU.
> Right now, I feel like I am extremely vulnerable to saboteurs because I am
> not informed as to which schools have a substantiated history of
> discriminating against visually challenged students.
> 
> I am to the point that, although I am preparing for the LSAT, I am
> considering Concord Law School. Concord is an online law school. The reason
> that I am considering this school, although it is not ABA approved, is that
> I can work from the comfort of my home with the proper software and
> equipment. This means that I will be accommodated. Also, they do have a
> department that deals with accessibility issues. I have already submitted my
> documentation for accommodations, extended time and etc., and they have
> agreed to these accommodations.  I only need to take their entrance exam.
> Since I preparing for the June LSAT, I will take their entrance exam after
> June. One concern that I have about Concord is, I can only sit for the
> California Bar.
> 
> Concord does have a link that shows one of their graduates, who passed the
> California Bar, challenging the bar in the state he lives in to sit for that
> bar. He won his case and was able to sit for his state's bar.
> 
> At any rate, I am eager to hear answers to your questions.
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Anita Keith-Foust
> 919-430-1978
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindlaw [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Michal
> Nowicki via blindlaw
> Sent: Thursday, December 25, 2014 4:03 PM
> To: 'Blind Law Mailing List'
> Subject: Re: [blindlaw] How to Cope? - Law Student Sabotaged by
> DeanandProfessors
> 
> Dear Mr.  Krugman and anyone else who has answers to my questions,
> 
> I sincerely apologize for sending out this e-mail on Christmas Day, when
> everyone wants to spend time with family and get away from the hustle and
> bustle of everyday life.  The potential gravity of this issue, however, has
> compelled me to waste no time.
> 
> Mr.  Krugman, could you be more specific about some of the ways in which
> graduate schools try to "mold" certain students into specific roles while
> "weeding out" others?  For instance, do they force students to take certain
> classes, and if so, what methods do they employ to achieve their objectives?
> 
> I would also like to know if anyone on this list is aware of any patterns
> that trigger/drive such behavior.  For example, does the rank of the
> program/school affect the likelihood that such incidents will occur?  If so,
> should we watch out more for top-ranked universities or lower-ranked once?
> What about public vs.  private schools?
> 
> Finally, please tell me how frequently blind graduate students encounter
> such obstacles.  Are these problems considerably rare, or do they arise
> frequently enough that I should be legitimately concerned about them in
> choosing which law school to attend?
> 
> Thank you in advance for your responses, and once again, I apologize if I
> disrupted your holidays.
> 
> Cordially,
> 
> Michal Nowicki
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindlaw [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Charles
> Krugman via blindlaw
> Sent: Wednesday, December 24, 2014 10:53 PM
> To: Blind Law Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [blindlaw] How to Cope? - Law Student Sabotaged by
> DeanandProfessors
> 
> Anita, what seems to have happened to you is very unfortunate but it happens
> to students in all disciplines of advanced study. I went to college and
> graduate school at a time before the ADA and my success depended only on
> what I did or didn't do. In the sixties and seventies as a student I had to
> make sure that materials that I needed were readily available and if they
> weren't I had to make sure that readers were hired to record them or get
> them recorded by volunteers. Later when I made a career change about 15
> years ago and became a paralegal upon leaving the field of Social work when
> attending a community college I saw several students that were weeded out of
> the program in various ways. Law school especially does things to not only
> mold students in to certain roles but weeds out those who they feel might
> not make it in the profession. I have discussed with many sighted law
> students and lawyers the types of things that occurred in law school that
> could be considered to mold the individual in to a certain role. In some
> cases where I observed this taking place some of the people perhaps should
> for various reasons not have been in a particular academic program and
> others were the victims of harassment or discrimination.
> Not knowing the specific circumstances of what was done I can only say that
> now that you know what was being done you can only assess the facts of the
> situation as well as how this impacts your desire to continue to study law. 
> You may want to consider transferring to another law school and you may also
> want to consider the legal remedies that are open to you to address what was
> done to you. This is not an easy situation for someone to be in because if
> they use legal remedies that are open and continue to study in the
> particular school in question there could be additional difficulties that
> may occur as a result of taking action. Whatever happens you will need to be
> very strong through this period and ask for much support from people who are
> around you and who are sympathetic. I hope this helps.
> Chuck Krugman, MSW Paralegal
> 1237 P Street
> Fresno ca 93721
> 559-266-9237
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Anita Keith-Foust via blindlaw
> Sent: Wednesday, December 24, 2014 8:26 PM
> To: 'Bryan Schulz' ; 'Blind Law Mailing List'
> Subject: Re: [blindlaw] How to Cope? - Law Student Sabotaged by
> DeanandProfessors
> 
> Wow!
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bryan Schulz [mailto:b.schulz at sbcglobal.net]
> Sent: Wednesday, December 24, 2014 11:05 PM
> To: Anita Keith-Foust; Blind Law Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [blindlaw] How to Cope? - Law Student Sabotaged by Dean
> andProfessors
> 
> hi,
> 
> Your question is not limited to law.
> In Missouri, the supervisor of a district rehabilitation office forced one
> adaptive computing contractor out of business and forced another contractor
> to return to Florida when clients were assigned to her favored contractor
> that was twice as expensive and doesn't even reside in Missouri.
> The result was loss of income and the first contractor is now seeking other
> computer related employment.
> Bryan Schulz
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Anita Keith-Foust via blindlaw" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
> To: <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, December 24, 2014 5:30 PM
> Subject: [blindlaw] How to Cope? - Law Student Sabotaged by Dean
> andProfessors
> 
> 
>> Happy Holidays Everyone!
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> I have recently come across information that a particular law school's 
>> dean and other faculty members secretly conspired to "encourage" a 
>> visually impaired student not to complete law school. They actually 
>> put the conspiracy in writing among themselves via email!
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> They do not come straight out to the visually impaired student and say 
>> that they are going to violate the Americans with Disability Act. Nor 
>> do they say they will intentionally ignore the agreed upon 
>> accommodations. The tactics they used include making it difficult by 
>> refusing to put the documents in the right format, not giving the 
>> documents (PowerPoints, etc.) in a timely fashion, and generally 
>> refusing to follow the accommodations agreed upon.
>> By
>> the time the visually impaired student documents and files complaints, 
>> they are behind in class. That is part of the plan to convince the 
>> student that law school is not for them.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Have you encountered this problem? If so, how did you deal with it?
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> I also would like to know about the experiences of visually impaired 
>> and blind students who successfully completed law school. For example, 
>> did the professors follow the agreed upon accommodations? Where your 
>> classes stationary, i.e., in the same classroom all day?
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> I would like to know how blind and low vision law students cope with 
>> the first year of law school when sabotage is  the plan of the deans 
>> and professors.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> What have your experiences been like?
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Thank you.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Anita Keith-Foust
>> 
>> 919-430-1978
>> 
>> 
>> 
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> 
> 
> 
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