The University of Chicago

Chicago, IL

D
Score: 454/1400
7,558
Undergraduate students
99%
Retention rate
$64,260
Annual tuition
0.58
Diversity Index
Data submitted by: buffybot22, Anonymous
Medium Campus
Medium Campus
private
Private University
Urban Campus
Urban Campus
Four-Year College
Four-Year College
Midwest Region
(Neo)Liberal Campus
(Neo)Liberal Campus
Sports Culture
Sports Culture
Noisy Campus
Noisy Campus
Graduate Students Unionized
Graduate Students Unionized

Description

Reporting in The Chicago Maroon, the student newspaper of the University of Chicago, describes how Student Disability Services (SDS) places undue burden on disabled students applying for accommodations while the excessive wait times often cause students to just give up. “Every department has their own dean…so at the end of the day, it’s never any one person’s problem. It’s on purpose. The decentralization makes it so that no individual person needs to feel bad about saying no. The University as a whole says no until the student leaves or graduates,” said a graduate student to the reporter.

Reporting in The Chicago Maroon also underscores how the transition back to in-person learning has negatively impacted some neurodivergent students on campus. One UChicago student, whose GPA jumped from 2.2 to 3.8 in 2021, because of Zoom accommodations, told the reporter that, “We would just like to see that the University of Chicago prioritizes the learning of neurodivergent students just as much as it does for students that are neurotypical, because we really have thrived in this format change.”

Are all campus buildings physically accessible to students who use wheelchairs or other mobility aids?

NO

A student says, "All campus buildings typically are accessible - they have an automatic door opening option, as well as ramps leading up to at least one of the doors." However, The Chicago Maroon reports that not all buildings with accessible outside entrances are necessarily accessible throughout the inside. For example, the "Biological Sciences Learning Center, where the central lecture hall on the first floor is accessible to enter but not to get to the front of the room, which excludes a person with a disability from presenting, teaching, or lecturing."

Are class session recordings readily available for lecture courses?

NO

A student says, "It is up to the instructor if they want to provide class session recordings, so if a student needs this, they need to separately ask the instructor to record the class."

Are students required to provide documentation of disability to qualify for receiving initial accommodations?

YES

The Chicago Maroon reports that students "described their experiences attempting to get accommodations through Student Disability Services (SDS) as expensive in terms of both time and money. Students must meet with their doctors to acquire the appropriate documentation for their disability and then wait for the application to be approved by SDS. [A student] noted that applying for accommodations through SDS can take up to six weeks, which is followed by the time it takes for professors to implement those accommodations."

Is there required diversity and inclusivity training for faculty/staff/and students, and does training include recognition of neurodivergence and disability?

YES

A student says, "There is required diversity training for students at the beginning of the quarter in the form of a 3 hour online course, and there is a separate training for faculty and staff. In the student training at least, there is recognition of disability and neurodivergence, and it is more or less accurate."

What types of student-run peer support groups exist on campus?

Disability Cultural Center

NO

Mutual Aid Networks

YES

Peer Support Groups

NO

Other

NO

Mutual Aid: https://www.uchicagounited.org/mutual-aid-project 

Note: There are a few peer support/advocacy groups on campus, but they don't seem to be run independently of UChicago Student Wellness.

Have you experienced ableism, discrimination, or witnessed stigmatizing language?

YES

See Negative Experiences section.

Are police involved in responding to student mental health crises?

YES

https://help.uchicago.edu/well-being-checks/

Does your college have a Student of Concern reporting page?

Yes (Allows anonymous reporting)

https://help.uchicago.edu/well-being-checks/

Clery Report data: Number of sexual assaults reported on campus per thousand students.

2

*2021 data

Has the college published an official statement in support of racial justice movements?

Support for Black Lives Matter

NO

Support for Land Back

NO

A student says, "Statements appear to be only department-specific; not released by the university as a whole."

Does your college offer a Disability Studies curriculum?

NO

Does your college offer a course on Critical Theory?

YES

CMLT 50101 Contemporary Critical Theory: Aesthetics, Ethics, Politics

Does the college engage in morally questionable research?

Animal Experimentation

YES

Cure Autism

NO

Other

NO
News
Submitted by:
admin
2023-02-14

I’ve had multiple friends complain about their student wellness psychiatrists. Hearing these horror stories prevented me from going back to student wellness for help. Students’ complaints need to be taken seriously. The person to whom I tried to report the psychiatrist I saw was patronizing and completely ignored my needs, so nothing changed. When I told them how my psych diagnosed me he said “maybe that’s just her style.”I heard that the psychiatrist I saw originally still diagnoses students the same way. 

Source:Link

News
Submitted by:
admin
2022-11-09

Since the day after Schmidt’s Twitter thread—which included a screenshot of Journey’s bio and email—went public, Journey has received at least 80 harassing emails. “These harassing emails have included death threats, veiled threats, and threats of sexual assault, as well as all kinds of misogynistic, racist, and antisemitic languages,” she told The Maroon. Hickerson also told The Maroon that she was threatened and harassed as a direct result of the Daily Caller story and doxxing that followed.

Source:Link