The Oakland Post

Letter to the Editor

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Dear Editor:

I am writing in response to the Letter to the Editor from Professor David Garfinkle that appeared in the January 13 Post regarding the appeal of the Micah Fialka-Feldman ruling. I’d like to clarify why we decided to appeal.

The ruling said that the university must make an exception to our policy that requires individuals who want to live on campus to first qualify for admission and then to be working toward a degree.

Mr. Fialka-Feldman is a 25-year old who has never applied to Oakland but rather participates in a non-credit continuing education program of the School of Education and Human Services.

We believe an appeal is important beyond the issue of housing eligibility.  Specifically, we want to clarify that it’s the prerogative of the university, not the courts or members of the public, to determine who qualifies for our programs such as housing, scholarships, intercollegiate athletics, commencement, study abroad and the like, which we believe serve the institution’s educational interests.

In this decision the Court said that the eligibility rules we use to determine who may or may not live on campus have nothing to do with the academic program that we believe the halls serve.  Is it such a big jump that a future court could tell our physics department to waive an academic degree requirement because the judge or some individual knows better what should or should not be a component of that educational program? We hope to clarify and prevent that from happening.

One point has been lost in all the discussion: For a very long time our residence halls have successfully housed and accommodated hundreds of physically and cognitively impaired OU students who are now alumni of our school.

Sincerely,

Mary Beth Snyder

Vice President for Student Affairs

and Enrollment Management