By: Duncan

Duncan
Tue, 16 Jun 2020 12:35:25 +0000

In reply to Abby” target=”_blank” title=”/2020/06/ohio-state-announces-in-person-fall-semester-plans/comment-page-1/#comment-117764″>Abby”>/2020/06/ohio-state-announces-in-person-fall-semester-plans/comment-page-1/#comment-117764″>Abby D.

Abby D, the University is required to provide only “reasonable accommodation,” and the ADA expressly exempts accommodations that would fundamentally alter the nature of the service or program or activity that the university provides or give rise to an undue financial or administrative burden.

In light of the facts that the pandemic is unprecedented, and exactly how the virus is spread and how and why it causes such an array of symptoms in the body are still not well understood, and even if there is a private right of action against a public university for ADA noncompliance, I would suggest that a careful balancing act—such as what the University seems to be attempting—would not be found to be unreasonable. Some programs, such as in laboratory science or clinical medicine or art studio, are such that accommodations to avoid the physical presence of others cannot be afforded without fundamentally changing their nature. Indeed, I would suggest that the nature (and quality) of residential undergraduate education in general is different from online-only programs, which is why so many students still prefer to go to a classroom instead of watching a computer screen for four years.

To be sure, in so short a time to prepare and with such a dearth of certain information, the University’s plans to reopen may certainly require some tweaking, and constructive input about how particular accommodations may be met would be most certainly welcome. But in the end, whether any particular individual, given her own abilities and, ultimately, her own comfort level, chooses to return to the university given the accommodations that have been made, is that individual’s personal choice.

It strikes me that your suggestion, to guarantee absolutely equal access and unquestionable personal safety to everyone, would require that the University simply shut down completely and altogether.