Public Media from Michigan State University

Student wins lawsuit over access to campus housing

By AP

ROCHESTER, MI – Oakland University in suburban Detroit has been ordered to provide housing for a student whose learning disability prevents him from pursuing a traditional degree.

A school official claimed it would change campus culture. A judge, however, says Oakland is breaking federal law.

Micah Fialka-Feldman filed a lawsuit last year after Oakland said he could live on campus but then denied the request. He attends classes at Oakland but is not in a degree-granting program, typically a condition to live in a dorm.

U.S. District Judge Patrick Duggan (DUG'-ihn) says there's no harm in allowing Fialka-Feldman to live on the Rochester campus. He says the public is served when laws guaranteeing equal access to people with disabilities are enforced.

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