The first cohort of students graduating from California State University, East Bay’s intellectual disability program will not walk at the college’s commencement ceremony this weekend, officials confirmed, sparking backlash from advocates who say the school is failing to live up to its mission of inclusivity.
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Though the students are not receiving formal academic degrees — a requirement for walking in the ceremony, according to the university — that has not stopped hundreds from signing a petition to include three graduates of Think by the Bay, a two-year Inclusive Postsecondary Education (IPSE) program for intellectually and developmentally disabled students.
“The President (Cathy Sandeen) said they could meet with students for a photo-op on Thursday, but that really only provides the forward-facing optics of inclusivity, when the reality is the complete opposite,” said Kristin Vogel-Campbell, the organizer of the petition and a board member at the Center for Disability Justice Research at CSU East Bay.
The university launched Think by the Bay in 2023. The program helps the students prepare for future employment and independence. Vogel-Campbell argued that Think by the Bay students who have completed the program should walk with fellow CSU East Bay graduates at Saturday’s official commencement ceremony, something she said other IPSE graduates across the country are allowed to do.
In a statement, CSU East Bay said organizing graduation is a year-long effort that begins “as soon as the final graduates from the previous year cross the stage.”
The university said they received a request to include Think by the Bay graduates three weeks ago, catching officials off guard and unable to make a late accommodation to include the students in the ceremony. Alternative efforts to celebrate Think by the Bay graduates have not found success.
“We are incredibly proud of and inspired by our Think By The Bay students’ accomplishments and wholly support the program offered through University Extensions,” a CSU East Bay statement said. “(We) have worked tirelessly with their advisors to offer options to celebrate these students in a timely and meaningful way, despite them not meeting eligibility requirements for commencement ceremonies.”
Think by the Bay graduates and supporters have not been satisfied with the alternatives.
Vogel-Campbell said the California Center for Inclusive College, a state initiative designed to expand inclusive postsecondary programs for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, issued a memorandum on May 8 recommending to colleges that all graduates of IPSE programs be “meaningfully included” in graduation events.
Vogel-Campbell and others in the Center for Disability Justice Research have run with that recommendation to make sure that Think by the Bay students walk with their peers this weekend.
“This is not just disappointing; it’s wrong,” Vogel-Campbell stated in the online petition. “It goes against the current mission and vision of the university and is at odds with the majority of colleges and universities across the United States, who celebrate their IPSE graduates.”
