In 2023, one month into my freshman year at Stanford University, an upperclassman was showing me her dorm room — a prized single in one of the nicest buildings on campus. As she took me around her space, which included a private bathroom, a walk-in shower and a great view of Hoover Tower, she casually mentioned that she had lived in a single all four years she had attended Stanford.
I was surprised. Most people don’t get the privilege of a single room until they reach their senior year.
That’s when my friend gave me a tip: Stanford had granted her “a disability accommodation”.
She, of course, didn’t have a disability. She knew it. I knew it. But she had figured out early what most Stanford students eventually learn: the Office of Accessible Education will give students a single room, extra time on tests and even exemptions from academic requirements if they qualify as “disabled”.
Everyone was doing it. I could do it, too, if I just knew how to ask.
A recent article in The Atlantic reported that an increasing number of students at elite universities were claiming they had disabilities to get benefits or exemptions, which can also include copies of lecture notes, excused absences and access to private testing rooms. Those who suffer from “social anxiety” can even get out of participating in class discussions.
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Stanford students are perfectly schooled to be in government. Good at gaming the system, no shame, horrible values. Defund Stanford and the rest.