Stanford University Under Fire for Refusing to Accomodate Disabled Student

Update: While reports state that Milane will be provided with a scribe, he is still waiting for a "formal letter" of confirmation.

Stanford University has come under fire for denying a scribe to a soon-to-graduate senior from Paloma Valley High School. Antonio Milane was born with cerebral palsy, and recently received a place to study at his dream university.

Cerebral palsy is known simply as a group of disorders that affect a person’s ability to move, and maintain balance and posture. When Milane was born, “doctors dubbed him a miracle child.” Not only did he suffer from this disability, but his immigrant parents also struggled with the burdens of adapting to a new country.

credit: Antonio Milane via change.org

From his sophomore year, and throughout the rest of high school, Milane was granted a scribe. However, the battle to obtain one was not as smooth as expected; Milane and his family previously had to negotiate with officials to give him the accommodations he desperately needed to prosper at school. Succeeding was simple for him, under the condition that he could obtain a scribe.

The question as to why Stanford continues to deprive Milane of a scribe persists, as the university instead interprets his request as a “personal service.” One Stanford professor, Michele Dauber, has criticised the university for its lack of support to vulnerable students like Milano, “I am dumbfounded that this is even a question, Antonio needs scribe support to do his homework. Stanford’s refusal to provide this support is just like asking a student in a wheelchair to pay for their own ramp to get to class.”

With regards to the legalities of this situation, Stanford states on its webpage that the Diversity and Access Office complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act, as well as Sections 503 and 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.

Section 504 states that "no qualified individual with a disability in the United States shall be excluded from, denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under" any program or activity that either receives Federal financial assistance or is conducted by any Executive agency or the United States Postal Service."

In addition, The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (or ADA) is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability.

Even if Stanford University did have a legal reason not to provide Milane with a scribe, many activists argue that such institutions have a moral responsibility to provide care for disabled people. Alexis Kallen, a former student at Stanford who is now enrolling into Yale Law School, told San Jose Inside: “If Stanford is going to accept applications from people with severe disabilities, then they need to be able to provide them with the accommodations that made them successful in the first place, I think that should be part of their commitment to being an inclusive university.”

On Monday the 8th of March, Milane stated on Instagram that he had just attended another meeting with university officials, only to hear once again that “Stanford does not have the resources to accommodate every disabled student’s wants at their school.” Milane's only choice was to appeal to the public to advocate for the fulfillment of his needs. He has created a change.org petition, which has accumulated more than 59,000 signatures thus far. Currently, the goal is to reach 75,oo0 names.

The petition states: "Simply put, I would be unable to attend Stanford and achieve my goals without the assistance of a scribe, as work will be impossible to complete for a boy who can not write."