First the complaint, then the money, now the public accolade: as we noted last month, student Kendra Velzen filed a complaint — and got a $40,000 settlement — after administrators at Grand Valley State University in Michigan declined to allow her emotional-support guinea pig to live with her in the dorm, even though she had a doctor’s note for it. Now the “Fair Housing Center of West Michigan has given … Velzen its annual Outstanding Effort by an Individual award. The group says Velzen was honored for promoting ‘equal housing opportunity for university students throughout the country.'” The center has a previous connection with the case, having assisted Velzen in her complaint. [AP/WILX]
7 Comments
Sorry, maybe it my mostly-Conservative values talking, but if someone needs an “emotional support” critter to function, then they have no business being allowed out of the house without close, adult supervision.
honouring mediocrity since 1979.
I’m sure hamsters all over the world are breathing easier.
Bob
When emotional support escorts make their appearance, I am going back to school.
It’s guinea pig, not a hamster. One important difference is that guinea pigs are good to eat. đŸ™‚
@Bill Poser: Just because guinea pigs are meatier doesn’t mean that hamsters aren’t very tasty in their own, cute little nubbins way!
Four and twenty hamsters will make a very nice pie.
[I wish I’d been smart enough to declare my textbooks support creatures. That would have made a few exams considerably easier. Today, though, I guess it’d be my WiFi-connected iPad.]
I wonder if in a few years there will be the Velzen effect, where a person has difficulty seeking employment because a simple google search will bring up thousands (millions?) of results for “cash settlement for emotional-support guinea pig.”