An Open Letter to Santa Clara University Regarding the OAE
To Whom It Should Concern,
As a student of Santa Clara University for whom this campus has become my home, it is not often that I reel in shock from campus events. I have grown to find safety in the steadiness and reliability of a social justice minded school that aims to create a culture of Cura Personalis. That changed this week. The sudden loss of three staff members of the Office of Accessible Education—OAE—has left me with a sense of whiplash, fear, anger and grief. It has annihilated my sense of safety on campus and left me with questions no one appears willing to answer. The damage done to the 1,000 students who depend on the OAE’s support in order to attend and succeed in school is unfathomable. It is unconscionable.
I live with multiple disabilities, including a severe, highly stigmatized mental illness that nearly ended my time at the University and often prevents people with it from completing higher education in the first place. The OAE and its incredible team of people have been the difference between finishing my education and not being able to.
An education is a privilege that opens doors in life. My education at Santa Clara University has not just taught me academics; it has fostered my self-confidence, grown my social skills, improved my self-advocacy, allowed me to develop a deep support system and make true friends for the first time in my life. It has made me a better global citizen, broadened my perspective, and increased my determination to give back to my community and those marginalized in society. It has emboldened me to participate in community service, and utilize the opportunity of receiving an education to give to communities who have not had the same privilege. None of this would have been possible without the OAE and its compassionate and caring staff of fierce advocates.
The OAE was my home. That is no longer the case. The OAE team truly embodied what the University is supposed to be all about: Cura Personalis, care for the whole person. Heather, James, Chris and indeed the entire OAE team have cared for me and my fellow students as their own. I’d like to share my personal experience and impress upon the University that it is not unique.
The OAE provided food when I was hungry, when I forgot lunch, at times when my limited energy prevented me from assembling a meal, or when food at the University or from the grocery store was an expense I felt I could not spare. They provided a sensory friendly space to study, allowed me to take naps when I was too exhausted to do anything else, advocated for my accommodations, and intervened at times when professors’ behavior interfered with my equal opportunity to complete my academics, or in extreme cases, when it did me emotional harm.
I should add that I love Santa Clara University and my experience has been overwhelmingly positive. The OAE has been there for me at times when it was not. Heather, James and Chris were always open to talk; they listened to the heavy things on my mind and cracked jokes when I needed levity, supported me and kept me safe when I was experiencing symptoms of my disability. They cared for me as a whole person, mentored me, and felt like family. They were nearly my entire support system at the University, and in one fell swoop, that support system is now gone.
My overwhelmingly positive experience of the OAE is not an isolated one. Many students had close relationships with OAE staff, and for the 1,000 students they serve, it has often been the thing that allows access to their education. The office was already overwhelmed. Seven staff members for 1,000 students is nearly unworkable, but the amazing team at OAE carried it well and did the impossible: they made it work.
That team has now been paired down to three—just three—staff members to handle accommodations for 1,000 students. I am appalled and afraid. That number harms students. The University’s self-declared primary value is Cura Personalis, a call to care deeply for oneself, for others and for the marginalized. Whatever has transpired is in direct opposition to what the university stands for. The lack of transparency, the lack of a plan forward, the suddenness, and the violence of dismantling the support system of a fifth of the student body, a section of already marginalized and vulnerable students, and indeed valuable, vibrant contributors to campus, has left me and many others feeling a sense of terror, hurt, and grief. It has irreparably damaged my confidence, feelings of safety, and sense of home I felt for and at SCU. OAE students deserve answers, and they deserve better. Truly, the actions that resulted in the annihilation of nearly the entire OAE has directly harmed students’ wellbeing and access to equitable education.
I call on Santa Clara University to be transparent about what has transpired. The University community deserves to know why their vital support has been dismantled. Santa Clara University needs to take swift action to restaff the OAE and commit to repairing its relationship with the students it has harmed. I ask University leadership to practice its own stated values and care for students on its campus. Time is of the essence. Our education is on the line. Disabled students deserve an education; they work unimaginably hard for it and have overcome barriers and crossed moving finish lines to be here. We are valuable members of the student body, many of us committed to carrying out social justice initiatives, serving and advocating for our communities, and leaving the University better than we found it. Santa Clara University is an amazing place. We have now lost our way. It is the University’s duty to restore it to the amazing place that has allowed so many of us to thrive. Truly, I write this letter not in the spirit of condemnation but in invitation to love and care for our community in the spirit of our values, in alignment with what has made Santa Clara University so great.
From Alex Coleman ’26