#imnottrueblueimaredflag

[persephonewolf]

Shit is going down

So you all may or may not have heard, but last night news broke that at my school, the New College of Florida, some highly unethical admissions procedures have been enacted in recent years. Joy Hamm, the current Dean of Admissions, has instituted a policy of "red flagging" all student essays in which they disclose a mental or physical disability, particularly as it pertains to mental health and neurological conditions such as Autism Spectrum Disorder, and having them go through an extra screening process. The essay in which they disclose their disability is qlso rated with a 1 for rhetorical content which has a negative impact on the student's overall score. According to evidence procured by the lawyer hired by two recent graduates who did work-study in the admissions department for three years and their lawyer, 1/3 of these red flagged students were denied in committee despite their scoring still qualifying them for automatic admission. This is certainly unethical, but it might also be illegal, so the Department of Education has launched an external investigation. New College itself conducted an internal investigation and found itself free of wrongdoing despite admitting to this policy. It is currently legal for a school to red flag any student they wish for any reason. However, due to her comments about the current student population (i.e. calling New College "the land of misfit toys" according to one employee) and multiple employees admittance that she has endeavored to lower the population of disabled students starting with those with mental and neurological conditions for reasons such as not being outgoing enough to hack it and not fitting in, the student body, the complainants, and their former lawyer who died earlier this month believe that she violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by intentionally denying students based on their disabilities as much as she could. Other committee members have attempted to make the process somewhat fair, but 1/3 is a large percentage. She has made disparaging comments about her own employer students as well as students with disabilities, claiming that we just aren't cut out for New College. Previously to Joy Hamm's appointment students were accepted based on scoring alone. They were only ever red flagged for serious issues such as disciplinary action, criminal record, and bad recommendation letter comments. Their essay topic was only given a second look if it had such concerning content as the example on the grading rubric of serial killer worshipping.

Whether it is illegal or not, I just wanted to let you all know in the case that any of you or any of your friends/children applied to New College last year or are currently in the process of applying. You have the right to this information. My friend and fellow EDSer, Gloria Pritchard, has compiled all of the evidence procured by the complainants' lawyer as she was close friends with them on a website that also includes current student actions to censure the administration and advocate on behalf of classmates and themselves. Below I will leave the links I have on current events in the investigation.

In my personal opinion, it is morally suspect despite the legality or illegality of the policy. We have more counselors on staff than colleges double our size (for example, Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, FL only has one or two according to my sister who attends and they have well over 1,000 students) with a building dedicated for their use and even an actual psychiatrist that comes by the school at least once a month. We have the capability to house, accommodate, and provide adequate care to the current population of students covered under the ADA. It is unnecessary to lower the population or not admit people based on their social skills or ability to navigate campus. Let me tell you, there are people without disabilities worse at both than most of my fellow ADA covered students and they are just as capable of getting good grades as the rest of us. It is plain bias and I hope the DOE investigation reveals that.

Here is the link to her website which is separate from but attached to her main blog: https://demidragonqueen.wixsite.com/redflag

Here is an ableist, but still mostly factual article about it that came out last night:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.heraldtribune.com/news/20190426/new-college-accused-of-discrimination-by-former-admissions-staffers%3ftemplate=ampart