Statement on Clemson University’s Elimination of the Accessibility Commission
We are deeply appalled by the decision to sunset vital campus groups at Clemson University. The University’s commissions played a critical role in ensuring that every student—no matter their background, disability, or identity—had a fair chance to be included in education. Eliminating them undermines the progress made toward building campuses where everyone belongs.
Clemson University’s decision to eliminate the Accessibility Commission, centered on people with disabilities, is not just disappointing; it is dangerous. This move strips away the one formal body that made sure students, staff, and faculty with disabilities had a voice. Without it, there is no clear line of accountability, no guarantee that barriers will be addressed, and no protection against being ignored.
This is happening when it matters most. One in five college students has a disability. More students with disabilities are enrolling in higher education than ever before. But here’s the reality: they are still far less likely to graduate. Not because they can’t do the work, but because colleges too often fail to provide equal access. They face classrooms they can’t enter, technology they can’t use, and decisions made without them.
By ending the Accessibility Commission, Clemson has made those barriers even harder to overcome. And the result will be devastating: more students with disabilities leaving college without a degree, not because they lack ability, but because the university refused to listen.
Every student deserves the chance to walk or roll across the stage at graduation. Clemson’s decision risks taking that away.
Disability rights are civil rights. They are human rights. Clemson must immediately explain how it will replace this critical accountability because silence and inaction are not acceptable.
Read the source material:
Clemson Ends Several Faculty and Staff Affinity Commissions: Clemson University is scrapping a number of faculty and staff commissions that were set up to advise university leaders about how to support specific groups.