According to news reports, a young man from Corvallis decided it was a good idea to blow up a bunch of adults and children at the Christmas tree lighting event at Pioneer Square in Portland.  The reports say that he planned to leave the country after detonating his bomb.

The stories indicate that this was not some grand conspiracy directed from someplace like Yemen or Pakistan. It appears to be, instead, the idea of a 19 year old graduate of Westview High School and former OSU student.

The news also tells us that a father and son stand accused of deciding it was a good idea to plant a bomb at a bank in Wilsonville to protest either the bank, the federal government or both.  They are now being tried for aggravated murder in the death of a policeman who was trying to disarm the bomb.

And then there is the news story about Eliza Schaaf.  She is a 20 year old woman with intellectual disabilities who enrolled in a ceramics class at Southern Oregon University.  After regularly attending class, Eliza was thrown out of school with just three classes to go.  SOU decided that a person with intellectual disabilities could not be allowed to audit one of its classes even though Eliza was not seeking college credit.

Eliza and her family are very disappointed.  So are her fellow students who have protested the university’s actions.  So are many citizens, newspapers and elected officials who have urged SOU to change its mind.  The university is not moved by these appeals and, just yesterday, turned down Eliza’s appeal of its decision.

Eliza has not planted a bomb, except metaphorically.  For details, visit her web site at http://www.elizaschaaf.com/. 

You will see that Eliza is a direct victim of disability discrimination.  She has been treated with ignorance by a university and with disregard by a publicly-funded and supposedly accountable institution.  Her grievance is not abstract or theoretical in the slightest.  In response, she has chosen to courageously take on this institution using the tools of communication, developing community support, following appeals procedures and working to educate decision-makers.

We need to support Eliza not just because she has been the victim of an injustice but because of how she has chosen to respond.  She speaks not just for herself, but for the disability community and for all Americans who believe that we can find justice by reaching out to the hearts and minds of fellow citizens.  

I’ve sent my letter to SOU officials decrying their actions.  Please join with me with more letters and protest.