Joeita Gupta already knew that very little of U of T was designed, physically or philosophically, with any regard for students with disabilities. Gupta, the current VP internal of the Association of Part-time Undergraduate Students, is running to be one of the eight student representatives on U of T’s 50-member Governing Council next year. She is visually impaired and needs an attendant when she visits classrooms or distributes campaign materials.
But the going rate for an attendant is $25 an hour, and the election regulations indicate that, as a campaign expense, this money had to come out of her own budget, capped at about $400.
The GC elections committee strictly prohibits candidates from spending more than their budget cap, which is determined by the size of their constituency. (For full-time undergrads, the cap is $2,000.) The rules are very specific, going so far as banning the use of any resource candidates normally have access to through university organizations, even a laser printer or photocopy machine.
As for why Gupta needs a professional attendant, it only took a few minutes of trying to negotiate The Varsity’s incredibly inaccessible office space (which Gupta charitably called a “labyrinth”) to see how much skill it takes. Gupta added that relying on volunteers left her at the mercy of other people’s schedules, a loss of independence that is not factored in to the university’s policies on accommodation.
At the all-candidates’ meeting on Feb. 12, Gupta asked whether her attendant costs were be counted against her campaign expenditures. At press time, she is still waiting for an answer.
Nancy Smart, the chief returning officer tasked with conducting the election, told The Varsity that Gupta had asked only about GC’s policy regarding accommodation. Smart said she looked into the issue, did some research, and advised Gupta to contact U of T’s Accessibility Services office.
Gupta said she was already aware of the policy, and that she was not interested in using Accessibility Services. She said AS was already overstrained, understaffed, slow, and focused on academic needs irrelevant to the sorts of activities she does on the campaign trail.
“GC should have a plan for students who need accommodation,” Gupta said. “By the time all this is dealt with, the campaign period will be over.”
Framing her own difficulties as part of a large pattern of disregard for students with disability, Gupta identified a tendency at U of T to treat such students on a time-consuming, clinical, case-by-case basis, rather than make universal accessibility a principle from the ground up.
“I don’t think people sit down and conspire to exclude anyone. They inherit systems with exclusivity built into them.”
She pointed to the school’s recent decision to make Accessibility Services a subsidiary of Health Services as a clear sign. “Putting Accessibility Services under Health Services leads to treating disability as unhealthy. Instead of universal accommodation, we get individual attention as though it’s a matter of patient care.”
Jeff Peters, the governor Gupta hopes to succeed, knows these hurdles well. Peters speaks through an interpreter when he addresses council. Because of the extra time this takes, Peters has been cut off several times during council meetings, before finishing what he had to say. Senior members of the administration have advised him to submit written statements instead of addressing the council verbally, but Peters called this an unfair demand that would restrict his ability to act during meetings. He said his request for accommodations was only approved recently.
