On September 19th Edinboro University announced that they would be retiring their current attendant care program. Currently, 35 students rely on the attendant care program to help them in their daily lives. The university has prided itself on serving their students with disabilities for over four decades. However, new laws have forced the school to make some changes. The school can no longer act as primary care providers by accepting direct-care waivers. To accommodate their valued disabled students, the University has chosen to collaborate with local business, A Bridge to Independence. The attendant-care coordinator program will step in to provide services that match students needs.

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The new program will start up at the end of this academic year and be put in place in 2019. The program provides staff on campus to work with students to ensure all their needs are met. The program is not mandatory, students may choose to use a different company if they wish. The incoming program may end up benefiting students once they become comfortable with the system as it allows students more freedom to in housing, along with the possibility to continue carrying their care programs between semesters, over summers, and even after graduation.

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However, the transition has created an uprising on campus due to campus-wide worry that the needs of handicap students will not be met. Students gathered in protest outside of  Rose and Earp halls, the current resident halls which currently house disabled students. An electronic petition on change.org has already received over 2,700 signatures out of a sought after 5,000.

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Alyssa Briglio, a biology major at Edinboro, uses a wheelchair due to muscular dystrophy and receives care from the attendant care program. Briglio has been playing her part in telling her story and sharing her concerns that echo the interests of those around her. She has created videos which have been posted online informing viewers of what this change in care providers could mean for disabled students.  She also spearheaded the online petition asking Edinboro to reconsider how they are going about this new law change. One major criticism is that current staff members and students were not involved in the transition and had not had a say in what will become of the program.

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On September 21 Michael J. Hannan, PhD Interim President put out a letter to students and faculty to address the anxiety of the universities students, in which he addressed the fact that the change was not voluntary and while the college is disheartened by the change, they are doing all they can to accommodate the students, and the new program will have its own benefits.

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However, meetings are being held to inform students with information on the incoming program and to address questions and concerns of those within the program. The next meeting will be held September 26 in Earp Hall.