“Student Who Sued GVSU Over Campus Pet Rule Honored”

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.”