As university graduates across Canada celebrate their achievements, a University of New Brunswick law graduate said he was “humbled” at his graduation ceremony.
“When I went to law school, I said it myself: ‘When I step on stage, I know I’ve made it.’ But I couldn’t cross the stage,” said Blair Curtis.
He has a wheelchair.
In December, he said he filled out a form for a thesis committee, indicating he has a wheelchair and a service dog. In February, he started conversations with the law graduation committee, and in March those conversations moved to the university-wide committee.
He was then told he would have an accessible ramp, but he couldn’t test it until May 14, two days before the ceremony.
When he tested it, he found it was too steep to drive up alone.
“What I feared in December, when I submitted the request, was that I would not be able to work with it. And it happened before my eyes, which was terrifying,” he said.
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He says the university then gave him three options: stay at the back of the stage for the entire ceremony, have someone push him or pick up the diploma from the floor.
He didn’t want to miss seeing his friends cross the stage and wanted to be visible, so he didn’t accept the first option.
Curtis also didn’t want anyone pushing him down the slope. He has a progressive syndrome, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.
“So it is very important for me to be able to maintain my independence for as long as possible,” he said.
Instead, he walked across the floor.
“When Blair crossed the carpet in front of the stage, those of us really couldn’t see him crossing. We had to watch the monitors,” said Mindy Parsons, his friend and another graduate.
University response
“Various accommodation options were presented and discussed. The housing plan was developed in consultation with the graduate prior to graduation,” university spokesperson Natasha Ashfield said in an emailed statement.
Curtis, however, remembers things differently.
“I was given three options and told to choose one. To me, that’s not consultation,” Curtis said.
The statement also said Curtis’ concerns were not highlighted until the story aired on CBC on May 17.
But Curtis said he raised his concerns three times before and after the ceremony to members of the graduation committee and the student accessibility center.
His concern is about the broader impact.
“I think it’s a shame that the ceremony happened that way for me, but also for other disabled students who watched and wanted to see how a disabled student would make it,” he said.
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