College controlling student's weight

awcntdb
Sun, 21 Sep 2014 21:22:50 +0000

Being slender is not a disability.



Since the medical records have not been evaluated by an outside physician, it is still an assumption it is only appearance.

The sports team issue is also something to put into mix, if there are weight limits for certain positions. But this sounds a bit than just the sports team.



Can you cite any case in which a student has been dismissed from a college for improperly filling out medical forms?



Given it is a medial condition, very few will know about it for privacy reasons, unless the schools sued or you were there.

Anecdotally, I know of two when I was in school in the 80s: one person did not disclose he was bipolar and had several events at school that were very disruptive. He was gone. And one person did not disclose that he was being treated for alcoholism and was always drunk on campus, and he was gone. These two were one and two years ahead of me.

Those are two I know personally. I was not friends with them, but witnessed the events and situations. The school was very quiet, but the deans were upfront in saying that they were on indefinite medical leave, never to return.

Contrast this with another student in my class who was also bipolar, who did disclose to the school that he was, and the school worked with him (and the students did too) to make sure he took his meds etc. He graduated fine and became very famous and tops in his field.

I am sure it happens more than people know. It is not the responsibility of any school to baby sit students. Having a disability is not the issue. The issue is even with a disability, a certain level of independence and ability to perform collegiate duties are part of the deal. If the disability stops a student from being able to perform as required, then those are grounds to dismiss.